VIENNA, October 20. /TASS/. Russian forces tracked and jammed 173 Ukrainian aerial vehicles near Energodar and the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) from October 10 through 16, Russia’s Permanent Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna said in a note verbale sent to the IAEA Secretariat for distribution to IAEA members.

"On October 10-16, 2023, a total of 173 aerial vehicles launched by Ukraine to conduct attacks and provocations against ZNPP and the city of Energodar were detected and jammed," the document said.

The Zaporozhye NPP, located in Energodar, is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The total capacity of its six reactors is about 6,000 megawatts. In late February 2022, the facility was taken under control by Russian forces. Since then, the Ukrainian military has been periodically bombarding both Energodar’s residential neighborhoods and the premises of the Zaporozhye nuclear plant, using drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems. Most of the attacks have been repelled by air defenses, but on several occasions, shells have been recorded hitting the plant’s infrastructure and the dry cask storage area. Engineering structures have been erected at the Zaporozhye NPP to shield the facility, acting much like "airbags."