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Military operation in Ukraine

Kiev’s drone strike targeted Zaporozhye NPP reactor coolant system, official says

Eleven staffers of the NPP were wounded in the drone attack, with four of them in severe condition

MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. The Kiev regime sought to hit the reactor coolant system at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in its attack by kamikaze drones, Head of the Zaporozhye Region Military-Civilian Administration Yevgeny Balitsky told the Rossiya-24 TV Channel on Thursday.

"What I have heard from nuclear safety specialists who are present at the station, they say that the coolant system is, unfortunately, the weakest point. That is why, it is highly likely that the Ukrainian Neo-Nazis targeted the reactor coolant system as a vital point, which could lead to a technological disaster," Balitsky said.

The staffers of the Zaporozhye NPP injured in the Ukrainian military’s drone attack were in stable severe condition, he added.

It was earlier reported that three Ukrainian kamikaze drones had struck the premises of the Zaporozhye NPP in Energodar. The nuclear power plant’s reactors were undamaged and the radiation background was normal. Eleven staffers of the Zaporozhye NPP were wounded in the drone attack, with four of them in severe condition.

The Zaporozhye NPP is the largest in Europe and has a capacity of about 6,000 MW. It used to generate a quarter of all electric power in Ukraine. The Zaporozhye NPP consists of six power units and from 1996 it operated as a detached unit of the Energoatom national nuclear power generating company controlled by Kiev.

In March 2022, the Zaporozhye NPP was placed under the Russian army’s control. Currently, the NPP operates at 70% capacity as the area of the Zaporozhye Region liberated from the Ukrainian army has a surplus of electricity power. There are plans to direct part of electricity generated at the Zaporozhye NPP to Crimea.

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Military operation in Ukraine

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