A worker has been killed in a drone strike at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, escalating international concern over the security of Europe’s largest nuclear facility amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom said the employee died after a drone attack it attributed to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, claiming the strike hit a transport workshop on the plant’s premises.
The International Atomic Energy Agency International Atomic Energy Agency issued an urgent warning following the incident, stressing that any military activity near nuclear infrastructure carries serious risks to nuclear safety and “must not take place”.
The plant, located in south-eastern Ukraine and is Europe’s largest nuclear facility.
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It has been under Russian control since early in the war, though it remains connected to Ukraine’s nuclear energy system and has been repeatedly caught in the crossfire of the conflict.
Rosatom described the incident as a “great tragedy”, saying the driver’s death represented a “terrible and irreplaceable loss” and warning that attacks on nuclear facilities pose a broader threat beyond immediate casualties.
It added that employees at the plant should not be considered legitimate targets under any circumstances, and that strikes on the site endangered not only lives but the wider security of the region.
The IAEA director general reiterated earlier concerns, warning that strikes on or near nuclear power plants risk destabilising safety systems and could have consequences far beyond the battlefield.
The IAEA statement said: “IAEA has been informed by the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant that a drone strike this morning killed a driver at its transport workshop in the vicinity of the plant site.
“Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi reiterates that strikes on or near NPPs can endanger nuclear safety and must not take place. The IAEA’s team on the site will look into the incident and continue to monitor the situation.”
The latest incident underscores persistent fears among international observers that the Zaporizhzhia facility remains one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the war, with repeated warnings that continued military activity in its vicinity could trigger a wider nuclear emergency.
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