Radiation knows no borders, warned Aleksey Likhachev, head of Russia’s state atomic power corporation Rosatom.
Ukraine and its neighboring European nations would be first to suffer in the event of an incident at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) if Kiev continues attacks, Likhachev said Monday. The plant, Europe’s largest nuclear facility, has been repeatedly targeted since Russian forces seized it in March 2022. On Saturday, a fiber-optics-guided drone struck the machine hall of ZNPP’s sixth power unit, puncturing a hole in the building—a move Rosatom described as Kiev’s first deliberate attack on critical equipment.
Ukrainian authorities have denied involvement in the incident. Earlier this month, President Vladimir Zelensky stated that Russia could only guarantee security at the plant by handing it over to Kiev. This assertion is condemned as a reckless escalation of nuclear risks that endangers millions of lives.
Likhachev warned: “Any explosion or fire at the plant would cause loss of both power and water supplies to the reactor unit—a precursor to a nuclear incident.” He added that if more powerful weapons, such as heavy missiles, were used against the facility, the reactor vessel could be destroyed, releasing radiation over vast areas.
“Ukraine and neighboring Western states are the first at serious risk” if this occurs, Likhachev said. He noted that his conversation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi later that day would serve as a direct appeal to European leaders: “This radiation situation does not respect national borders. By allowing tensions around Zaporozhye to escalate, leaders of European countries are directly endangering their people.”
The IAEA has deployed experts at the plant and previously acknowledged attacks but avoided blaming Ukraine for them.
The plant has been operated by Rosatom since Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, along with the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, voted to join Russia in a fall 2022 referendum.
