The drone reportedly hit the roof of the building but did not cause any casualties or major damage. It is not yet known if the drone struck the training center directly or it crashed there after being shot down. IAEA team members heard the gunfire shortly before 10:00 a.m. local time, but it was not clear if it was related to the drone activity.
The IAEA team has requested access to the training center following this latest drone strike, but it has not yet been granted.
Quotable: “These reported drone incidents are very concerning, as they could pose a direct threat to nuclear safety and security ,” Grossi said. “To put it simply: there are too many drones flying near nuclear sites, not just the ZNPP. It should stop immediately.”
Background: ZNPP has endured numerous missile and drone attacks and multiple loss-of-power events during the past three years of conflict with Russia. These events have been catalogued by the IAEA, which has had rotating teams stationed at the plant since 2022, when Russian forces took over.
In December, a drone struck one of the IAEA’s vehicles as it was being used to rotate team members on-site at ZNPP. The vehicle occupants—a driver and a security guard—were unharmed.
There was one casualty in April 2024 when ZNPP’s main reactor containment structures were targeted by at least three direct drone strikes.
Zaporizhzhia is Europe’s largest nuclear plant, but its six reactors have not produced power since 2022.
Elsewhere: In February, a drone struck the infamous Chernobyl site and damaged the New Safe Confinement structure built to contain radioactivity from being released from the reactor, which was destroyed in an accident in 1986. The large confinement structure, built as the result of a partnership involving 45 countries at a cost of about $2 billion, has been in place since 2019. Following the drone strike and resultant fire, it now has a hole larger than 500 square feet.
The IAEA said workers at Ukraine’s operating nuclear plants—Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, and South Ukraine—also regularly report of drone sightings. Last week, the IAEA team at the South Ukraine plant learned that drones were observed as close as 2 kilometers from the site.
