The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that its team at the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) heard explosions and saw smoke coming from a nearby location where the plant said one of its auxiliary facilities had been attacked. The IAEA team was informed by ZNPP that the facility was struck by shelling and drones around the same time the team could hear military activity.
The auxiliary facility is located 1,200 metres from the ZNPP’s site perimeter and the IAEA team could still see smoke from that direction in the afternoon. “Any attack in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant – regardless of the intended target – poses potential risks also for nuclear safety and must be avoided. Once again, I call for maximum military restraint near nuclear facilities to prevent the continued risk of a nuclear accident,” said Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
The attack was widely reported in the Russian media including TASS and Ria Novosti. The Chairman of the Coordination Council for the Integration of New Regions, Vladimir Rogov in his Telegram channel that the industrial zone near the ZNPP had caught fire after being hit by the Ukrainian army. He said that the Ministry of Emergency Situations attended the scene and the Armed Forces of Ukraine then attacked a fire truck with a drone. Rogov said the ZNPP staff and firefighters were not injured and that the fire had been extinguished. He also reported that two people, a woman and a man, were injured during the shelling of the nearby plant operators’ town of Energodar.
ZNPP also detailed the attack on its Telegram channel, adding that there was no threat to the safe operation of the plant, which was operating normally. The radiation background at the plant site and in the sanitary protection zone remained within natural limits. However, later ZNPP reported on its Telegram channel that one person had been killed as a result of the attack. “During the inspection of the area, a damaged civilian vehicle (a passenger car) that was not related to the operation of the nuclear power plant was also discovered. Unfortunately, a deceased civilian was also found there,” the report said. The press service expressed its condolences to the relatives of the deceased, whose name was not disclosed.
Maxim Pukhov, head of the Energodar administration, said that a woman was killed and a man was injured as a result of a drone attack on a civilian car near the city’s industrial zone. The drone’s debris hit a civilian car injuring the driver who was evacuated for medical assistance. Pukhov, urged residents to stay away from the area due to a high risk of further attacks, noting that Ukrainian drone activity was seriously hindering rescue and investigation efforts.
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