Ukrainian drone targets main equipment of Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant

Moscow: A Ukrainian combat drone struck the turbine hall of Unit 6 of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) on Saturday afternoon, stated Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev, local media reported.

“This afternoon, a Ukrainian combat drone struck the turbine building of Unit 6, causing a subsequent detonation. The explosion did not damage the main equipment, but it did create a hole in the turbine wall. It’s noteworthy that the drone was controlled via fiber optics. This completely rules out the possibility of an accidental impact,” Likhachev emphasised in a statement.

According to Likhachev, this attack marks the first targeted attack on a nuclear power plant’s core equipment in the history of the international community, Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency reported.

“The entire international community can be ‘congratulated,’ so to speak – this [drone attack on the Zaporizhzhya NPP turbine hall] is the first targeted attack on the plant’s core equipment, with a complete explosion and damage to the turbine building. The Ukrainian armed forces repeatedly cross not just red lines, but the boundaries of common sense. What should we expect next? Strikes directly at the turbine? The reactor hall? The reactor and its safety systems?” Likhachev noted in his statement.

According to him, the world is one step closer to an incident that will affect even those living far beyond Russia and Ukraine.

“We repeatedly draw the international community’s attention to the extremely dangerous behaviour of the Ukrainian side. It seems many don’t take the attacks on the nuclear power plant seriously. But today, we are one step closer to an incident that will most likely affect even those living far beyond Russia and Ukraine, who still think they are completely safe,” he added.

Earlier this month, the Zaporizhzhia NPP’s external radiation monitoring laboratory was attacked by Ukrainian forces with a drone.

IANS