VIENNA, Aug. 18 — A drone exploded early Tuesday at a bus stop used by staff traveling to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), causing 16 casualties among plant employees and subcontractors, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.
According to the IAEA, the ZNPP director informed an IAEA team that one person was killed and three others sustained serious injuries in the explosion. The plant director described the incident as the worst event the facility has faced, the IAEA said.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called on the military commanders responsible for the attack, as well as all other parties targeting nuclear power plants or their personnel, to immediately halt such “unacceptable actions.”
Grossi stressed that attacks on nuclear facilities and their personnel pose grave risks to nuclear safety and security amid the ongoing conflict.
The IAEA was also informed of attacks in the plant’s industrial area. No damage affecting nuclear safety or security was reported, according to the agency.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, one of Europe’s largest nuclear facilities, has been under Russian control since March 2022. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
