Ukraine's drone targets Zaporozhye nuclear plant, IAEA says - "serious incident"

Russia has claimed that Ukraine had attacked the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant with a drone. The Russian army has occupied Europe's largest Zaporizhia nuclear plant since 2022. A statement issued by the Moscow-Controlled Management of the Plant said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the dome of the sixth power unit of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Plant (ZNPP). The statement said that the radioactive material has not been released. However, the containment system of the reactor is feared to be weak.

According to plant officials, radiation levels were normal and there was no significant damage after the attack. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has urged restraint and said that this is a serious incident. IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement that there have been at least three direct attacks on the main reactor containment structure of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Grossi said, "I appeal to the military to refrain from any action that violates the basic principles protecting nuclear facilities."

The drone struck the plant's canteen, injuring three workers, one of them "seriously".

The fighting between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for more than two years. Russia recently attacked Kharkiv using drones. The mayor of Kharkiv said that 6 people were killed and 10 others were injured in an overnight Russian drone attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city.