The Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) has been directly struck by a drone puncturing a hole in the unit 6 machine hall. Given that such munitions are guided by their operators until the impact, the strike was carried out deliberately, and any “theories of an accidental hit” can be ruled out, Rosatom Director General Aleksey Likhachev said, adding: “This is the first-ever deliberate attack on the nuclear power plant’s main equipment, with a penetrative explosion and damage to the machine hall”.
Radiation levels remain normal at the site, ZNPP said in a statement. The attack caused no casualties or “critical damage” to the facility, it added. Emergency teams are currently accessing the damage sustained by the machine hall, with the situation remaining under “full control”.
The Ukrainian military has denied any involvement, claiming it does not possess fibre-optic-guided drones of sufficient range or packed with powerful enough charges capable of penetrating a wall.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi has expressed “serious concern” over the “reported incident” at the plant. Grossi warned against attacks on nuclear sites, describing them as “playing with fire.” The agency added that it had requested access “to examine the affected turbine building first-hand.”
A team of IAEA experts subsequently visited the plant to assess the damage, Russia’s envoy to the agency and other international organisations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said. He shared footage from the scene, showing the hole in the wall of the machine hall, as well as fragments of the UAV and the fibre optic cord it left behind.
The IAEA said its team had observed damage “consistent with the impact of a drone,” with “a few pieces of debris and burned optical fibre remains” found on the ground. During the visit to the plant, the experts were “told to shelter after hearing the sound of drones nearby and gunfire to repel them,” the agency noted.
The following day, a drone hit the ZNPP transport workshop, destroying six buses and two Gazelles. According to the plant’s representatives, the transport department has become one of the most frequently targeted areas in recent months. There were no injuries among the staff.
Despite the ongoing attacks, the ZNPP is operating normally. All systems are functioning properly, and there have been no violations of technological processes. The safety of the plant’s operation is being fully ensured, and all technological parameters are constantly monitored by the staff.
Alexander Uvarov, an independent nuclear energy expert, stated that the situation at the facility has reached a dangerous threshold. “The attack on the turbine hall building is no longer an attack on a remote auxiliary facility. It is a direct approach to the main structures of the nuclear power plant. Each such incident reduces the distance to a nuclear catastrophe.”
