The head of Russia's state nuclear energy corporation has accused Ukraine of attacking diesel fuel trucks, killing two Russian servicemen and deliberately jeopardising safety at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev said in a statement on Sunday that Ukrainian forces launched “a series of combined strikes” on Friday on fuel trucks which deliver diesel to the station.
“The strikes hit very close to the perimeter of the station’s site,” he said.
“Two servicemen were killed, and a large number of Russian soldiers were injured, some seriously. They were all involved in supporting this purely civilian mission.”
Diesel supplies are critical to the plant because its generators provide power to keep nuclear fuel in the reactors cool when its two external power links are down.
Both links were out of service for nearly three weeks in August and September.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) brokered a local ceasefire last month to allow repairs and restore external power.
IAEA has stationed an observer team permanently at the station, along with Ukraine's three other working plants.
The agency has repeatedly acted as an intermediary when disputes arise and last month brokered a local ceasefire in order to carry out repairs and restore external power links.
Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant with six reactors, currently generates no electricity.
Russian forces seized the plant in the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022. Both sides have regularly accused each other of endangering safety at the site and increasing the risk of a nuclear accident.
Ukraine has demanded that Russia withdraw from the plant and return its operation to Kiev, a demand Moscow has rejected.
