Russian nuclear chief accuses Ukraine of killing Zaporizhzhia power plant worker in drone attack
MOSCOW, June 18 (Reuters) – The head of Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom accused Ukraine on Thursday of killing a key employee in a drone strike near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine.
There was no immediate response from Ukraine and Reuters could not independently verify the statement.
Russia seized control of the facility, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, shortly after its forces entered Ukraine in 2022, and both sides regularly accuse each other of endangering its security with military action.
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Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev said in a statement that Ukrainian drones attacked the nearby city of Enerkhodar, where most of the station’s employees live, on Wednesday.
He said one power plant employee working at a repair workshop had been killed and that doctors were fighting for the life of a second employee injured in the same attack.
“These are the core personnel of the plant, on whom the safe operation of equipment at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant directly depends,” Likhachev said. In April, Russia announced that another worker from the facility was killed in a drone attack in Ukraine.
(Reporting by ReutersEditing: Andrew Osborn)
