MOSCOW/KYIV: Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine attacked the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant for a third consecutive day with a drone, and warned that it could have extremely grave potential consequences.
Ukraine has denied it is behind a series of drone attacks on the plant, including three drone attacks on Sunday, which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said had endangered nuclear safety.
“The unique training center of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was attacked,” the Russian-controlled plant said in a statement. The drone fell on the roof of the training centre, it said. No one was injured.
The “attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces happened 10 minute after IAEA specialists drove past the centre,” said the head of press service at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant Yevgeniya Yashina. “They were returning from the regular visit to the outside radiation monitoring laboratory.”
In a video clip apparently recorded inside the plant Tuesday, she said: “This training centre is unique because it has real hardware, including nuclear reactor room. The only thing that is missing here is nuclear fuel. The workers of ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant) train here, honing technological operations in the reactor room. After attack neither workers, nor the equipment of this unique centre were harmed.”
Ukrainian military intelligence said Kyiv does not take part in action against nuclear facilities. “Ukraine’s position is clear and unequivocal– we do not commit any military actions or provocations on nuclear facilities,” Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence, said on national TV.
An extraordinary meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors called by Russia to discuss attacks on the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine is due to be held on Thursday, four diplomats said.
Separately, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters that Ukraine’s military spy agency GUR struck a main production facility of a aviation factory in Russia’s Voronezh region on Tuesday.
Russia’s defence ministry said earlier on Tuesday that two drones were downed over the region. The source said the 711th aviation repair plant in the town of Borisoglebsk was hit. It did not provide any details of the scale of the damage.
CCTV video verified by Reuters showed an explosion in the area of the facility on Tuesday. Reuters was able to confirm the location via matching street view and satellite imagery, as well as confirm the date from the timestamp. The town is at least 350 km away from the Ukrainian government-held side of the front line in the northeast.
Kyiv has stepped up attacks deep in Russia’s territory, targeting military facilities and energy infrastructure that helps Moscow’s war effort. It mostly uses various types of long-range domestically produced drones.
(REUTERS)
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