Zaporozhye NPP Director: Ukrainian Attacks Expand

MELITOPOL, May 19. /TASS/. The area of attacks carried out by the Ukrainian military against the territory of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and its satellite city of Energodar has significantly expanded over the past two weeks, facility’s Director Yury Chernichuk said.

"Over the past two weeks, we have recorded, firstly, in my opinion, a fairly increased range of these impacts [drone attacks]. On Saturday, a drone carrying an explosive charge crashed on the territory of the plant," Chernichuk said.

"It was our transportation workshop, which is one of our critical infrastructure facilities, such as power distribution stations, and the gas distribution station that had been also subjected to attacks on several occasions," he continued.

"Last night’s developments proved that the houses of peaceful citizens, as well as personal means of transportation, are not an obstacle to ongoing attacks. Therefore, I believe that this is just a massive psychological attack on the city, on the plant," he added.

The Zaporozhye NPP is located on the shores of the Kakhovka Reservoir in Energodar. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, with six power units capable of producing a combined 6 GW of electricity.

Since 2022, the Ukrainian forces have been shelling both residential areas of Energodar and the plant's grounds with artillery and drone strikes. Since September 2022, experts from the IAEA mission have been permanently stationed at the plant. Their composition is regularly rotated.