MOSCOW — The chief engineer at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control, has been killed in what Russia says was a Ukrainian drone strike near the facility, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced Wednesday.
Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev said in an official statement that the drone hit a service vehicle traveling between the plant and the city of Enerhodar, killing the engineer, Alexander Yakovlev, along with the driver.
Russian forces took control of the plant — located in southeastern Ukraine and recognized as the largest nuclear facility in Europe, housing six reactors — during the opening weeks of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
In the time since, both sides have repeatedly blamed each other for military actions they say put nuclear safety at risk.
Enerhodar, the city where most of the plant’s workers reside, has been the site of repeated attacks throughout the conflict.
Likhachev criticized Western nations for failing to respond to the attacks, arguing that their silence “encourages escalation of terrorist acts by the Ukrainian government.” He added that strikes in the area have resulted in 13 deaths and 48 injuries over the past two and a half months.
Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency — the United Nations’ nuclear oversight body — condemned the attack without directly naming Ukraine or Russia. Grossi stated that the incident “represents an unacceptable attack on the plant and its management, seriously threatening nuclear safety.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova took to Telegram to respond, writing: “This is a crime of the Kyiv regime that Grossi must finally see — we demand a clear statement condemning this killing from the relevant international bodies, first and foremost the IAEA.”
The Kremlin had already raised alarms last Friday, accusing Ukraine of stepping up what it described as “terror” operations against the power station. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov specifically accused Ukraine of striking civilian infrastructure as well as infrastructure tied directly to the nuclear plant.
As of Wednesday, Ukraine had not issued any response to the latest incident.
