Russian management of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant reported on Friday morning that a Ukrainian drone strike killed a worker while he was traveling to the facility. The incident has been described by Russian authorities as “barbarism” and part of a “hunt” targeting plant personnel.
In an official statement released Thursday evening, Russian management emphasized that such strikes “not only affect particular people. They are designed to intimidate plant workers, seed panic and tensions among those who ensure the atomic site operates safely every day.”
The victim was identified by local officials as a welder in his early 40s, killed while traveling to work on an e-scooter when Ukrainian forces targeted him. The incident was first reported on Thursday by Maksim Pukhov, mayor of Energodar, a city near Zaporozhye NPP.
Russia’s nuclear energy agency Rosatom mourned the death of the worker, calling it an unacceptable violation of safety protocols and international norms.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) condemned the incident, stating that any attack on the facility is “completely unacceptable” and urging “maximum military restraint” around Zaporozhye plant. Moscow has repeatedly criticized the UN nuclear watchdog for failing to explicitly blame Ukraine for attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, including strikes targeting its personnel.
Rosatom head Aleksey Likhachev stated at a September IAEA conference that 20 people, including nine plant employees, had been killed since Ukrainian forces intensified drone and artillery strikes against the Zaporozhye NPP in late April. Among the victims were chief engineer Aleksandr Yakovlev and driver Dmitry Filippov, who died in July when a drone struck a vehicle carrying senior staff.
Russian authorities took control of the Zaporozhye NPP in 2022 following a regional referendum that Kiev rejected as a “sham” vote. The IAEA established a permanent on-site observer mission at the plant in September 2022.
