Drone Explosion Near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Staff Transport Area Kills One, Injures 15

One person was killed, and 15 others were wounded when a drone exploded near a bus stop used by staff of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on August 18, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The IAEA reported that the blast occurred around 06:00 at a stop used by workers traveling to the plant. The site's director described it to the agency's on-site team as the worst event the station has faced.

Rafael Grossi, the agency's director general, urged military commanders and anyone else targeting nuclear plants or their personnel to halt such conduct immediately. He condemned the strikes as "unacceptable actions... which constitute great risks to nuclear safety and security during the conflict," in a statement issued via the IAEA's X account.

The agency put the toll at 16 casualties among plant staff and subcontractors, three of them in serious condition. It also noted attacks in the plant's industrial area, though it recorded no damage affecting nuclear safety or security.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest, has been under Russian temporary occupation since March 2022, with an IAEA monitoring team permanently stationed on-site. The agency has previously cautioned that nuclear facilities are not built to withstand direct military strikes, and that harm to the workforce bears directly on safe operation even when reactors are not hit.

Read more

Category

War in Ukraine

Russia Turns Europe's Largest Nuclear Power Plant Into Military Base, HUR Says

Jul 13, 2026 13:43

The August blast was not the first fatal drone incident near the plant. In mid-July, Russian media reported that a strike killed the occupied station's chief engineer and his driver, prompting Moscow to complain to the IAEA.

Grossi at the time called that incident an unacceptable attack on the plant and its management, while Ukraine's Foreign Ministry rejected any involvement and stressed that Moscow had offered no independent evidence.

Competing claims over incidents at the plant have recurred throughout the war. In late May, Russia accused Ukraine of striking the turbine hall of Unit 6, an allegation Kyiv dismissed as disinformation timed to coincide with meetings of the IAEA Board of Governors.

The plant's six reactors have remained in cold shutdown, a state that still requires uninterrupted external power to keep the reactors and spent fuel cooled.

Protect Ukrainian Skies

Subscribe to Sky Defense