Ukraine Military Drone Strikes Hit Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant, Russian Officials Claim

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Officials at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant said that the site was attacked Sunday by Ukrainian military drones, including a strike on the dome of the plant’s sixth power unit.

According to the plant authorities, there was no critical damage or casualties and radiation levels at the plant were normal after the strikes.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Sunday that its experts had been informed of the drone strike and that “such detonation is consistent with IAEA observations.”

Without apportioning blame, the head of the U.N.’s atomic watchdog agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, warned of the safety risks of such attacks.

“I urge refraining from actions that contradict the 5 IAEA principles and jeopardize nuclear safety,” he said on the social media site X.

The power plant has been caught in the crossfire since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and seized the facility shortly after. The IAEA has repeatedly expressed alarm about the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe. Both Ukraine and Russia have regularly accused the other of attacking the plant, which is still close to the front lines.

The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.

Also on Sunday, three people were wounded in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region, according to regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.

In Russia, a girl died and four other people were wounded when the debris of a downed Ukrainian drone fell on a car carrying a family of six people in Russia´s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

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