Ukraine Drone Strikes Turbine Hall at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant

(MENAFN) A Ukrainian combat drone struck the turbine hall of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Saturday, triggering an explosion and punching a hole through the structure's wall in what Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom described as an unprecedented and deliberate attack on critical nuclear infrastructure.

While the plant's core equipment was reported undamaged, Rosatom emphasized that the drone's fiber-optic guidance system made any claim of an accidental strike impossible to sustain.

Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev called it "the first deliberate attack on key nuclear power plant equipment resulting in structural damage to a turbine hall building," and warned the incident represented a dangerous crossing of thresholds with potentially global consequences.

"It is noteworthy that the drone was fiber-optic controlled. This completely rules out the possibility of an accidental hit," Likhachev said.

He escalated his rhetoric sharply, questioning where the attacks could lead. "The Ukrainian armed forces time and again cross not just red lines, but the boundaries of common sense. What to expect next? Strikes directly on the turbine? The reactor hall? The reactor and safety systems?" he said.

Likhachev issued a grave warning to the international community, cautioning that the region is inching toward catastrophe. "Today we are one step closer to an incident that could highly likely affect even those living far beyond the borders of Russia and Ukraine, who still believe they are completely safe," he said.

The Zaporizhzhia plant — Europe's largest nuclear facility — has been under Russian control since the early weeks of the war and has repeatedly been at the center of nuclear safety alarms raised by international watchdogs.

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