Moscow: Russian state energy officials on Saturday claimed an Ukrainian drone hit a building at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power raising fresh alarms over nuclear threat. The strike targeted the machine room of one of the plant’s power units drilling a role in the wall of a turbine hall. No damage to the primary equipment was reported.
“This afternoon, a Ukrainian kamikaze combat drone struck the turbine hall building of Power Unit No. 6, resulting in a subsequent detonation,” the official said in a statement.
However, Ukrainian military blatantly denied Russia’ claims as yet another propaganda ploy.” It said that the Ukrainian troops did not strike power unit No. 6 at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
“Ukrainian servicemen act strictly within the international humanitarian law and are fully aware of the consequences of any actions targeting nuclear facilities,” the military said in a statement.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was captured by Russia in March 2022 and remains close to the frontline in the southeastern Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia region.
The incident comes a day after the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations body responsible for nuclear oversight, reported that the Zaporizhzhia plant had lost all external power for the sixteenth time since Russia’s invasion began in 2022. No explanation for the latest power loss was immediately given.
Besides the nuclear plant, Ukrainian forces also targeted Russia’s Taganrog port, located in the Rostov region on the northern shore of the Sea of Azov, started fires on a tanker, a fuel storage tank and an administrative building. No causalities and fuel leak was reported from the fire that broke out due to the blast.
Both Ukraine and Russia are amping up their drone strengths as their main weapon to strike.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates
Click Here for Chhattisgarh News
Click Here for Entertainment News