Rosatom said that a Ukrainian combat drone attacked the turbine hall building of the sixth power unit of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The Russian company claims that “as a result of the collision, an explosion occurred. The main equipment was not damaged, but a hole appeared in the wall of the machine room.”
The statement confirmed that the drone was controlled via fiber optics, which “completely rules out the possibility of it being subjected to an alleged accidental strike.”
According to Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev, “This is the first targeted attack on the main equipment of a nuclear power plant with a massive explosion and damage to the turbine building.”
It seems that many people do not take attacks on nuclear power plants seriously. But today we are one step away from an accident that even those who live outside the borders of Russia and Ukraine and still think they are completely safe are likely to suffer.
Zaporozhye NPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. It was seized by the Russian army on March 4, 2022. For the past few years, the nuclear power plant has not been producing electricity, only the systems needed to cool the reactors are working.
Due to the bombing, for which Russia and Ukraine blame each other, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has been repeatedly cut off from external power sources. The station’s main feeder line has not been repaired since 2025, as this requires a ceasefire to remain in effect in the area surrounding the station.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said on May 28 that the previous day there had been no landline telephone or Internet connection at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant for about 12 hours. The reason for the interruption of communication with the station for the longest period since the beginning of the Great War is unknown. Deutsche Welle NotesThat this might be related to the bombing of Energodar.