Moscow has blamed Kiev for a Ukrainian drone strike and several impacts inside Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian control since March 2022.
The Russian authorities reported an attack on the Russian-occupied nuclear infrastructure in Ukraine, the first of which hit an explosive charge near a canteen at the plant.
The second drone hit the loading dock and a third hit the dome of the plant's sixth reactor. As a result of the impacts, three workers were injured.
Kiev denies attacks
Ukrainian military intelligence on Monday denied any responsibility for Kiev's military actions against the power station.
The Ukrainian state-owned nuclear energy company Energoatom denied on Tuesday that Ukraine had attacked the Zaporijia nuclear power plant, after the International Atomic Energy Agency warned of drone strikes.
"The Kremlin is intensifying its lies about the attacks on the Zaporijia nuclear power plant," says a statement released by Energoatom, in which the company accuses Russia of "manipulating" the International Atomic Energy Agency and the international community.
"Ukraine has not been involved in any armed provocations at the facilities of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, illegally occupied by Russia," since March 2022, Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) spokesman Andri Yusov told the Kiev-based publication Ukrainska Pravda on Sunday evening.
Energoatom also accuses Russia - which militarily occupied the plant in March 2022 - of turning the plant "into a military base" and insisted that it should transfer control of the plant to Russia, since the Ukrainian state company is the "legitimate" operator.
In response to the UN agency's statement, the representative of Ukrainian military espionage accused Russia of having carried out "simulated attacks" on the plant, of having placed troops and military equipment there and of having mined the facilities of the plant located in the occupied part of Zaporizhia province.
Yusov also reproached the Russian occupying forces for "endangering the nuclear infrastructure, the civilian population" and the whole of Europe with their presence at the plant, which is under constant surveillance by IAEA experts due to the risk of war-related incidents leading to a nuclear accident.
The Ukrainian intelligence spokesman also demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from the infrastructure so that international nuclear safety standards could be re-established, which have been constantly violated in and around the plant since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Since the beginning of the war, Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of endangering nuclear safety in the area and the region.
"This can't happen"
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has called on Ukraine and Russia to avoid a dangerous nuclear incident at the plant.
"We call on all parties to avoid provoking a dangerous nuclear incident in Ukraine, which could pose enormous immediate and long-term threats to human health and the environment," wrote Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the social network X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.
The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said that the attacks "significantly increase the risk of a serious nuclear accident and must stop immediately".
"For the first time since November 2022, after we established the basic principles to avoid a serious nuclear accident with radiological consequences, we have confirmed three direct attacks (...) This cannot happen," he said.
Grossi stressed that, on this occasion, "although the damage" did not "compromise nuclear safety, it is a serious incident that had the potential to compromise the integrity of the reactor containment system".
The IAEA official recalled that these attacks are a "clear reminder" of the "persistent threats" to these facilities during armed conflicts.
The IAEA had already reported an attack by drones [unmanned aerial vehicles] whose explosions caused "minor damage" to one of the six reactors at Europe's largest power plant.
"I strongly urge military decision-makers to refrain from any action that violates the basic principles of protecting military installations," said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.
