The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has warned that attacks on nuclear sites are “like playing with fire” after reports of a drone strike at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its chief, Rafael Grossi, had expressed “serious concern” over the reported incident on Saturday.
If confirmed, this would be the first drone attack within the perimeter of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant since April 2024.
The warning came after Russia accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting the facility, while Kyiv rejected the claim as a “propaganda ploy.”
Newsweek has contacted Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
Ukrainian operators still manned the site, which has remained close to the front line in the south. International experts and officials have frequently raised concerns about the risk of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia plant from the exchange of fire, while Russia and Ukraine have blamed one another for endangering the facility.
Russian forces seized control of the plant after taking the town of Enerhodar in March 2022, shortly after the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
The potential for a nuclear disaster hangs heavy over Ukraine, which last month marked the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
At least 30 people died in the immediate aftermath of the disaster at Chernobyl, north of the capital, Kyiv, in the then-Soviet Union. Millions more were exposed to radiation. Chernobyl briefly came under Russian control in early 2022.
Russia Claims Drone Struck Reactor Building
Mikhail Ulyanov, a senior Russian official in Vienna where the IAEA is based, said on Sunday U.N. agency’s experts were inspecting the site at the power plant, according to Russia’s Tass state news agency.
The IAEA separately said it had requested access to the plant.
The Zaporizhzhia site has lost access to off-site power more than a dozen times since February 2022, including in mid-December, according to experts. It is not currently operational, but needs access to off-site power to keep it safe.
In March 2022, the IAEA said it had developed “seven indispensable pillars” to try to maintain nuclear safety in Ukraine during the war.
These pillars include maintaining access to off-site power at all times across all Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
The U.N. agency then said in May 2023 both sides should abide by “five concrete principles,” the first of which forbids any attack from or against the Zaporizhzhia plant, particularly around its reactors.
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