MELITOPOL, April 26. /TASS/. Attempts by the Ukrainian military to attack power-generating units of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant with drones may trigger a nuclear incident equal in scale to the Chernobyl disaster of 38 years ago, the Zaporozhye Region’s governor, Yevgeny Balitsky, has said.

Tensions in the area of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and in Energodar, where the nuclear power plant is located, escalated at the beginning of the month. The Ukrainian army repeatedly attacked the plant with drones.

"The Ukrainian terrorists keep sending their kamikaze drones to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. Apparently, their plan is to trigger a tragedy similar to the Chernobyl disaster. In attempts to achieve their aims, they are trying to artificially provoke the same technological disruptions that occurred in 1986. On the day of the anniversary of that tragedy such actions by Kiev look especially cynical," Balitsky said.

Since the beginning of April air alert sirens have been heard in both Energodar and the Zaporozhye NPP more and more often.

"In this way Kiev’s warmongers apparently ‘celebrate’ the main anniversary of the tragedy. They also use such tactics to pocket the next US tranche: to give corrupt officials a plausible excuse to write off and embezzle this money. However, the Russian air defense system and radio-electronic warfare forces successfully resist the Ukrainian terrorists," Balitsky said.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster occurred on April 26, 1986. It was the worst in the history of nuclear power engineering. An explosion destroyed the reactor core. The power unit’s building partially collapsed. The total release of radioactive materials into the environment amounted to about 380 million curies. An area of more than 200,000 square kilometers was contaminated, with 70% of the affected area lying in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.