Key facts
- IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi condemned the deadly strikes as unacceptable attacks violating indispensable nuclear safety pillars.
- The IAEA did not say whether Russian or Ukrainian forces carried out the drone attacks.
- The ZNPP, in Enerhodar in southern Ukraine, is Europe's largest nuclear power plant and has been under Russian occupation since the full-scale invasion began.
- The plant lost its sole 330-kV external power line for around 10 hours on November 8, relying on emergency diesel generators until power was restored.
- A drone attack on October 29 killed an employee, reportedly a welder at the plant's centralized repair workshop, per the IAEA.
A drone killed an employee of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on November 9. In a post on X, the IAEA said Director General Rafael Grossi "strongly condemns the deadly strikes and says they represent unacceptable attacks violating indispensable nuclear safety pillars."
In a separate incident, an employee at the nearby Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant was also killed by a drone, according to the IAEA. The agency did not specify whether Russian or Ukrainian forces carried out the attacks, or provide further details.
The ZNPP, located in Enerhodar in southern Ukraine, is Europe's largest nuclear power plant and has been under Russian occupation since the start of the full-scale invasion. Moscow controls the plant and large parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, while the regional capital and most of the oblast's population remain under Ukrainian administration.
The plant has repeatedly faced threats to nuclear safety, including drone attacks, disruptions to external power supplies and incidents affecting workers. On November 8, the ZNPP lost connection to its sole 330-kilovolt external power line for around 10 hours, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for cooling and safety functions before power was restored.
Another drone attack on October 29 killed an employee, reportedly a welder working at the plant's centralized repair workshop, according to the IAEA. On October 3, the IAEA reported a series of drone attacks that damaged transformers at the Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant, threatening the nuclear facility's external electricity supply. In August, a drone explosion at a bus stop used by plant personnel killed one person and injured 15 others, according to the IAEA.