Russia says Ukrainian drone struck Zaporizhzhia plant turbine hall

Attack on turbine hall

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Saturday that a Ukrainian combat drone struck the turbine hall at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, causing an explosion that damaged the building's structure. The strike created a hole in the wall of the turbine hall, although the plant's main equipment was not damaged, the corporation stated.

Fiber-optic control confirmed

The drone was guided via a fiber-optic control system, Rosatom said in a statement, stressing that this method ruled out any possibility of an accidental strike. Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev described the incident as "the first deliberate attack on key nuclear power plant equipment resulting in structural damage to a turbine hall building," the corporation reported.

Nuclear incident fears

Likhachev warned that repeated attacks on nuclear facilities were bringing the region closer to a potentially serious nuclear incident that could affect populations far beyond Russia and Ukraine. "The Ukrainian armed forces time and again cross not just red lines, but the boundaries of common sense," he said, questioning whether future strikes might target the reactor hall or safety systems directly. "Today we are one step closer to an incident that could highly likely affect even those living far beyond the borders," he added.