Two guards were killed in attacks on diesel tankers supplying the Zaporozhye facility, according to the Russian nuclear corporation<\/p>\n
Ukraine has carried out a series of strikes on tankers delivering emergency diesel fuel to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), killing two Russian servicemen and wounding\u00a0multiple others, Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev has said.
\nThe attacks took place on Friday in the immediate vicinity of the plant\u2019s perimeter and targeted fuel trucks transporting diesel needed for the facility\u2019s emergency power systems, Likhachev said in a statement on Sunday.
\nTwo Russian servicemen were killed and \u201ca large number\u201d were wounded, some seriously, according to the Rosatom chief. He said the troops had been involved in securing a \u201cstrictly civilian mission\u201d to maintain fuel deliveries to the nuclear facility.
\nLikhachev accused Kiev of knowingly targeting the tankers despite being aware of their cargo and its importance to nuclear safety.<\/p>\n
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The incident comes just days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned that the ZNPP\u2019s diesel reserves had been critically depleted during nearly three weeks without external electricity. The plant lost its sole remaining power connection on August 20 and had to rely entirely on emergency generators until a temporary IAEA-brokered ceasefire allowed repairs to be carried out and the line to be reconnected on September 7.
\nEven after external electricity was restored, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stressed that replenishing diesel remained essential because the plant could again lose grid power due to unspecified \u201cmilitary activity\u201d in the area.
\nDuring the latest blackout, the plant had reduced the number of operating generators from four to two to conserve diesel and began running some cooling pumps intermittently. The generators provide electricity for essential safety systems, including pumps cooling all six reactors and their spent fuel pools.<\/p>\n
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Likhachev accused Kiev of deliberately increasing the risk of a nuclear emergency at Europe\u2019s largest nuclear power plant.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe Kiev regime has openly embarked on a path of provoking a nuclear incident at Europe\u2019s largest nuclear power plant, with unpredictable consequences,\u201d he said, arguing that any such event could affect areas far beyond the immediate vicinity of the facility.
\nThe Rosatom chief called on the IAEA to \u201cstrongly condemn\u201d the attack and explicitly identify those responsible. He also urged Kiev\u2019s Western backers to distance themselves from what he described as the Ukrainian government\u2019s \u201cmost horrific crimes.\u201d
\nThe IAEA has repeatedly warned about military activity around the ZNPP and nearby Energodar. In its latest update before Likhachev\u2019s statement, the agency reported hearing explosions, drones and sustained gunfire in the area and said the plant\u2019s power situation remained \u201cincreasingly fragile.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two guards were killed in attacks on diesel tankers supplying the Zaporozhye facility, according to the Russian nuclear corporation Ukraine has carried out a series of strikes on tankers delivering…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t