UN Body Raises Alarm After Drone Attack On Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant

The Russia-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was hit by a drone attack on Sunday.

A series of attacks hit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Sunday ( Image Source :Getty )

The United Nation's atomic watchdog has raised the risk of a "major nuclear accident" after a new drone attack on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia power plant, reported BBC. 

Russia's nuclear power corporation, Rosatom has accused Ukraine's military of launching a series of attacks on the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station on Sunday, as per a Reuters report. 

According to Rosatom, three people were injured in the attack, with one seriously injured. 

The nuclear power plant with six reactors has been on the frontline since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 22, 2022. 

The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly warned against such attacks. The IAEA confirmed the "physical impact of drone attacks" on the plant including at one of the reactors. 

IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi called Sunday's drone strike "reckless" and said a "a major escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers" facing the plant.

“This cannot happen,” he said.

The IAEA chief said that this was the first attack since November 2022, when he set out five basic principles to avoid a serious nuclear accident with radiological consequences. 

The plant officials said that the site was attacked by Ukrainian military drones, including a strike on the dome of the plant's sixth power unit, reported the Associated Press. It also said that its experts had been informed of the drone strike and that "such detonation is consistent with IAEA observations. 

The plant authorities said that there was no critical damage or casualties adding that the radiation levels were normal after the strikes. 

A Ukrainian intelligence officer denied the claims by Russia and Rosatom saying Kyiv had nothing to do with any strikes on the station, and suggested that it was the work of Russians themselves, reported Reuters.