June 4 (Reuters) – The Russian-installed management at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant accused Ukraine on Thursday of deploying more than 20 drones to attack a nearby thermal plant vital to supplying the facility with external power.
Russian forces seized the plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, in the weeks following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and each side has since regularly accused the other of military action that compromises nuclear safety.
The management statement accused Ukraine’s military of staging a “multiple attack using heavy unmanned aerial vehicles” on an area close to the plant.
“More than 20 drone strikes have been recorded,” it said.
It said the target of the attack was the nearby thermal plant, “site of critically important energy infrastructure that ensures the operation of the… Ferrosplavnaya-1 power transmission line”.
“Such attacks pose a direct threat to the reliability of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant power supply and once again demonstrate disregard for the principles of nuclear safety.”
Ukraine has made no comment on the Russian allegations.
The plant generates no electricity but needs external power to ensure that nuclear fuel at the site does not overheat.
Two external lines connect to the grid, but one has been down since late March and the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been trying to arrange a ceasefire in order to repair it.
The IAEA on Thursday said it had been informed by the station’s Russian management of the latest incident and its permanently based monitors had seen light smoke coming from near the thermal plant.
Rafael Grossi, IAEA director general, called for an immediate halt to attacks to avoid an extended loss of external power.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski, editing by Deepa Babington)
Comments