MOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. The Ukrainian attack on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is a new level of nuclear aggression, Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Russia’s state nuclear power operator Rosatom, said.

"What happened at the Zaporozhye NPP last night is a level of targeted aggression directed at the infrastructure of the nuclear facility, which has never been seen before," Likhachev told reporters on the sidelines of the Army 2024 international military and technical forum.

According to the Rosatom CEO, the attack, among other things, was also aimed at firefighters who arrived to extinguish the fire. "At 8:20 p.m. [5:20 p.m. GMT] yesterday the first kamikaze drone came in, at 8:32 p.m. [5:32 p.m. GMT] the second one. Again, the distance of 12 minutes is a desire to cover not only the object, but also the firefighters, who within five to six minutes, of course, arrive at the site," he said. The fire lasted about three hours, burning including plastice. "Thanks to the actions of firefighters, the Emergencies Ministry, plant employees, the fire was localized some time by 11:00 p.m. [8:00 p.m. GMT], but very serious damage was done to the cooling towers. <...> And in this sense, a blow was dealt to the future of the nuclear power plant, when we will bring it to capacity, and we still have to answer the question whether this damage is compensable or whether we will have to carry out large-scale reconstruction work with the possible replacement of the first cooling tower," Likhachev said.

Earlier, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev called on the IAEA to name the party responsible for the attack on the ZNPP. At the same time, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, without identifying the party responsible for the attack, emphasized that such actions jeopardize nuclear safety at the plant, increase the risk of a nuclear accident and should be stopped. IAEA experts had earlier requested access to the attacked cooling tower to assess the damage. The agency said the plant's two cooling towers are outside its perimeter and an attack on them would not directly affect the ZNPP's six units. IAEA experts also noted that the radiation background at the plant remained normal.

Earlier, it was reported that the Ukrainian armed forces had used a kamikaze drone to hit the ZNPP's cooling systems. According to the plant's management, a fire broke out in the area of the cooling towers as a result of the shelling. The fire was later extinguished; it did not affect the operation of the NPP, as all six power units are in cold shutdown mode.