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Rosatom says overnight attack damaged two buildings at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
In short
Rosatom director general Alexei Likhachev said Ukrainian forces attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant overnight, damaging a laboratory building and a building used to process radioactive waste. Roofs on both buildings were damaged, he said, and the laboratory building stands about 200 metres from the fourth and fifth power units. Likhachev said there was no threat to nuclear safety.
Why it matters
The plant is Europe's largest nuclear site and has already been the subject of repeated damage and of IAEA-mediated talks on a local ceasefire for repairs, so any new strike feeds directly into the stalled effort to keep the site supplied and monitored. Because the account comes from Russian state agencies and Rosatom, outside confirmation of the damage and its consequences is not yet available to readers.
Key facts
- Rosatom director general Alexei Likhachev said Ukrainian forces attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant overnight. [ 1 , 4 ]
- According to Likhachev, two facilities were damaged: a laboratory building and a building used to process radioactive waste. [ 4 ]
- The roofs of both buildings were damaged, and the laboratory building is located about 200 metres from the fourth and fifth power units, Likhachev said. [ 4 ]
- Likhachev said there is no threat to nuclear safety as a result of the overnight attack. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- All six units of the Zaporizhzhia plant are in cold shutdown. [ 4 ]
- On September 29 Likhachev said Rosatom had prepared a technical plan for a phased restart of the plant's units once military risks decline. [ 4 ]
- On October 3 the IAEA said transformers at the Zaporizhzhia thermal power station used for external power supply to the nuclear plant were damaged in attacks on September 19, 20 and 27. [ 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Responsibility for the attack is attributed to Ukrainian forces by Rosatom's head and by Russian state agencies; no statement from Ukraine or an independent assessment is cited in the documents. The attribution rests on Russian official sources only, and no response from the Ukrainian side appears in the documents.
- Vedomosti alone names the radioactive waste processing building among the damaged facilities and gives the extent of damage as roofs on both buildings. Single-source detail from one business outlet reporting the same official's briefing; no independent assessment of the damage is provided.
- No information is given on casualties or on the current radiation situation at the site. The documents state that there is no threat to nuclear safety but give no radiation readings or casualty figures.
- The documents do not say where the plant is located or name the city in which the events took place. No location beyond the plant's name is given in any document.
What local media are saying
Official sourcesState news agencies reported the overnight attack on the Zaporizhzhia plant in short, attributed items, leading with Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev's statement that Ukrainian forces struck the plant and that there is no threat to nuclear safety.
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Business mediaVedomosti carried the fullest account, quoting Likhachev on the two damaged facilities, the roof damage and the laboratory building's position near the fourth and fifth units, and setting the strike against earlier IAEA reports of damaged transformers, drone damage to a radiation monitoring post and Rosatom's restart plan.
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Timeline, local time
- TASS reports that Ukrainian forces attacked a building at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant overnight, citing Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev, who said there is no threat to nuclear safety. [ 1 ]
- RIA Novosti reports that Ukrainian forces attacked the laboratory building of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. [ 2 ]
- RIA Novosti reports Likhachev's statement that the overnight attack on the plant poses no threat to nuclear safety. [ 3 ]
- Vedomosti reports Likhachev's statement that two facilities were damaged, naming the laboratory building and a building used to process radioactive waste, with roofs damaged on both. [ 4 ]