MOSCOW, May 30 (Reuters) – Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom said on Saturday a Ukrainian drone had struck the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, causing no damage to key equipment, but the Kyiv military denied it.
Rosatom’s head Alexei Likhachev called the incident “deliberate” and said it left a hole in the wall of a turbine hall.
“This afternoon, a Ukrainian kamikaze combat drone struck the turbine hall building of Power Unit No. 6, resulting in a subsequent detonation,” Likhachev said in a statement.
“The explosion caused no damage to the primary equipment; however, it tore a hole in the turbine hall wall.”
Ukraine’s military denied the Russian claims as “yet another propaganda ploy.” It said that the Ukrainian troops did not strike power unit No. 6 at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
“Ukrainian servicemen act strictly within the international humanitarian law and are fully aware of the consequences of any actions targeting nuclear facilities,” the military said in a statement.
“At the relevant section of the front line, there was no active fighting during the incident, and no weapons were used.”
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was captured by Russia in March 2022 and remains close to the frontline in the southeastern Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia region.
The plant has occasionally come under fire during the four-year-long war, raising fears of a nuclear accident at the facility.
(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova. Writing by Felix Light. Additional reporting by Olena Harmash in Kyiv, Editing by Mark Potter and Tomasz Janowski)
