LUGANSK, July 16. /TASS/. Alexander Yakovlev, the chief engineer of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was killed by the Ukrainian armed forces by a premeditated drone strike that was carried out with the help of US and NATO intelligence data, military expert Vitaly Kiselev told TASS.

"Several times a month, NATO reconnaissance aircraft perform flights over the neutral waters of the Black Sea and conduct long-range reconnaissance of territories controlled by the Russian army. <…> America also provides intelligence and personal data (data on those to be eliminated - TASS). The Ukrainian armed forces are fulfilling the orders of their handlers in Brussels. This is not a mistake, but surveillance and premeditated murder by terrorists from the Ukrainian armed forces," Kiselev said, responding to a question about the possible involvement of NATO countries in the engineer’s killing.

On July 15, Ukraine attacked a service vehicle of the nuclear power plant with a drone killing Yakovlev and his driver. Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi condemned Yakovlev’s killing, calling the attack on the station and its management "unacceptable." A criminal case on the terrorist attack was opened in the Investigative Committee on the fact of Yakovlev’s death.