The attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, “significantly increase the risk of a nuclear accident,” warned today the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi during a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors.
The drone attack on Sunday, which targeted a building housing one of the six reactors of the plant, was described as the most dangerous development concerning the safety of the largest nuclear power station in Europe since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow and Kiev have repeatedly accused each other of strikes in the vicinity of the nuclear power station, which Russian forces seized shortly after the war began. Both sides called for an emergency meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors after Sunday’s attack.
“We are meeting today, and I will address the UN Security Council next week because it is of the utmost importance to ensure that these reckless attacks do not create a new and extremely dangerous front in the war,” Grossi said.
The head of the IAEA emphasized that the attacks in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station area “must stop,” while avoiding attributing responsibility to any of the conflicting parties.
