IAEA reports explosions near the Zaporizhzhia NPP

Employees of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recorded loud explosions near the Zaporizhzhia NPP (ZNPP). This coincided with information about a drone attack on the stationʼs training center.

This was reported by the IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and added that this indicates "another threat to nuclear safety."

The IAEA Support and Assistance Mission team heard two explosions at approximately 12:45 and 15:45 on January 5, and also heard several machine gun shots.

The report notes that these incidents did not affect the ZNPP equipment or its employees. The explosions occurred outside the perimeter of the training center site.

The Russians occupied the ZNPP in early March 2022, and it has been operating under their control ever since. During that time, the ZNPP has experienced eight complete blackouts and one partial one.

An IAEA mission has been stationed at the station since September 2022. Ukraine insists on the withdrawal of Russian occupiers from the station. President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasizes that as long as Russian soldiers are at the ZNPP, “the world remains on the brink of nuclear catastrophe.” Russia refuses to create a demilitarized zone at the ZNPP.

• In early April 2024, the IAEA stated that the Zaporizhzhia NPP had been attacked at least three times by “unknown drones.” Russian propaganda blamed Ukraine (previously for the appearance of the IAEA statement). The agency did not name the attacking party. The strikes damaged surveillance and communications equipment, and the upper part of the dome of the sixth power unit burned down — there was no significant damage.
• Later, Ukrainian intelligence showed how the Russians were using kamikaze drones over the nuclear reactors of the occupied ZNPP. In a comment to Babel, the GUR representative Andriy Chernyak emphasized that the Russians were using the territory of ZNPP to launch drones, because the Ukrainian Defense Forces cannot fire back in the one and a half kilometer zone around the plant.
• The occupiers have equipped launch pads for their UAVs right next to the sixth reactor of the South NPP. In addition, since the summer of 2023, the Russians have been using the territory of the captured South NPP for training FPV drone pilots — this is done by the so-called Archangel UAV operator school, which is financed and supervised by the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

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