Moscow and kyiv accused each other on Monday of attacking the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russia in southern Ukraine and periodically targeted by dangerous bombings, using drones. This nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe with six reactors, was targeted by several drones on Sunday, then again by a device on Monday, according to its administration installed by Moscow.
Zaporizhzhia power plant frequently targeted
“Attempts by the Ukrainian armed forces to attack the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant continue,” she said on Telegram, referring to “a suicide drone shot down above the plant” which “fell on the roof” of the reactor number 6, without constituting a danger for the installation. The day before, the Russian atomic agency Rosatom reported that a drone had crashed into the power plant’s canteen, injuring three people, and others on a loading dock and on the roof of one of the reactors.
Ukraine, for its part, accused Russia of disseminating “false” information and assured that it was Russian forces who themselves attacked with drones the power plant they have occupied since March 2022. The head of the Ukrainian combat center against disinformation, Andriï Kovalenko, blamed a “campaign of provocation and falsification” by Russia aimed at making people believe “that the threat to the power plant and nuclear security comes from Ukraine”.
A Ukrainian intelligence spokesperson, Andriï Yussof, previously accused Moscow of carrying out “simulated strikes”. “Ukraine has nothing to do with the slightest armed provocation within the power plant,” he assured Sunday.
The IAEA denounced a “major escalation”
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has a team of experts on the site of the plant, denounced Sunday after the first attack a “major escalation” and “a serious incident that could potentially harm to the integrity of the reactor containment.
She indicated on According to its director Rafael Grossi, there were “at least three direct impacts on the main containment structures” of the plant on Sunday. Unlike Rosatom, the IAEA only reported one injury.
Rosatom called on the IAEA and European Union countries to “categorically condemn the escalation.” Andriï Kovalenko accused Russia of “manipulating the concerns of the IAEA”. The Zaporizhia power station, which no longer produces electricity, has been targeted by strikes and bombings on multiple occasions for more than two years, for which Moscow and kyiv have always rejected responsibility.