The world is “dangerously close to a nuclear accident” after attacks on a power plant in Ukraine, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned.
Three attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have been confirmed since 7 April, according to IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi. They marked the first strikes on the facility since November 2022.
Speaking to the United Nations Security Council, Mr Grossi said: “These reckless attacks must cease immediately.
“Though, fortunately, they have not led to a radiological incident this time, they significantly increase the risk … where nuclear safety is already compromised.”
Follow latest: What’s happening at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant?
Mr Grossi added the trio of attacks “have been performed with a multitude of drones”, and said it’s impossible to confirm who launched them.
But Ukraine and the US have blamed Russia for the attacks, with Washington’s deputy UN ambassador Robert Wood saying: “Russia does not care about these risks.”
Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s UN ambassador, also called the strikes “a well-planned false flag operation by the Russian Federation”.
Russia has in turn blamed Ukraine. Their ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said: “We know full well who it is.
“Over the last few months, such attacks not only resumed, they significantly intensified.”
The IAEA previously shared that onsite inspectors had seen the damage from the strikes – including “superficial scorching” at the top of the roof of reactor 6 – and that the plant’s structural integrity was not compromised.
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The Zaporizhzhia power plant is one of the 10 biggest nuclear facilities in the world. It has six reactors, each capable of generating around 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
Russian forces seized control of the facility, located in southern Ukraine, in March 2022. Since then, both Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of attacking it, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claiming in 2023 that Russia had planted explosives on some of the plant’s reactors.
All six reactors have been shut down for months, but the plant still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.
The IAEA has repeatedly raised alarm about the power plant over fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe like the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
