Monday, 14 July 2025
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has reported that the agency’s experts at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant heard “hundreds of rounds of small arms fire” for about an hour on Saturday evening.
The latest update from the IAEA says that when they conducted a site walkdown on Sunday morning “they saw numerous small calibre casings lying scattered on the ground near reactor units 5 and 6. There was no sign of broken windows or other physical damage. The IAEA team at the ZNPP is seeking further information about the incident”.
It said that the large number of shots, repeatedly fired from about 22:00 on Saturday, “was unusual, the team members reported”.
Grossi said: “Such military activity at or near a major nuclear power plant is clearly unacceptable.”
It follows the “apparent increased use of drones near nuclear power plants” in Ukraine and the report of a strike on the city of Energodar, where most of the Zaporizhzhia plant’s staff live.
“We are seeing a clear escalation in drone strikes during this war, also affecting Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and potentially putting them in further danger. As I have repeatedly stated, any military attack on a nuclear site – with or without drones – jeopardises nuclear safety and must stop immediately,” Grossi said.
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been under Russian military control since early March 2022. It is located on the frontline of Russian and Ukrainian forces. The IAEA has had experts stationed at the plant since September 2022 as part of safety and security efforts.
