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One of Zaporozhye NPP power units hit with artillery shell during bombardment

There is no increase in the radiation background on the territory of the station, said Alexander Volga

ENERGODAR, September 4. /TASS/. One of the power units at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) was hit by an artillery shell during the recent bombardment of the facility by the Ukrainian military, Head of the Energodar military-civilian administration Alexander Volga told TASS on Sunday.

"One of the delivered shots perforated a power unit and it was caused by an artillery shell. I took a picture of it. This power unit is not operational at the moment," Volga said without specifying the date of the incident.

He also said that the security system of all power units at the Zaporozhye NPP boasts a safety structure that cannot be disrupted with a one hit only.

"However, the fact is a fact. What should they decide to use next time to deliver a strike? We need prompt decisions in view of these developments," Volga added.

According to him, all operational systems of the nuclear power station currently work in a standard mode and the radiation level at the site is in line with the standard norms.

"The radiation level at the station is being constantly measured and the measures show that there is no increase in the level of the radiation level and all systems work in a standard mode," Volga said adding that the plant’s "power units No. 5 and 6 stay operational generating power for the energy grid."

On Thursday, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) fact-finding mission team visited the Zaporozhye plant to estimate the material damage to the facility and to evaluate the operational capabilities of the nuclear station’s safety and security systems.

After inspecting the Zaporozhye NPP, Grossi told reporters the experts had conducted an initial assessment, had seen "the key things" they needed to see, and were planning to stay on.

Energodar, which is the site of the Zaporozhye plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power facility, has been the target of shelling attacks by the Ukrainian military over the past few weeks. When carrying out its strikes against the nuclear power plant, the Kiev regime is using drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems. In most cases, the attacks are repelled by Russian air defense systems. However, some rockets hit the NPP’s infrastructural facilities, including nuclear waste storage sites.

On the morning of September 1, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian troops attempted to disembark at 07:00 at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, near the Vodyanoe village. The attempted raid was thwarted by Russia’s Armed Forces, when they sank two self-propelled barges carrying saboteurs that departed from Nikopol.

Also, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, at 06:20 Moscow time, the Kiev regime carried out a landing by two Ukrainian sabotage groups with a total number of up to 60 people on seven speedboats on the coast of the Kakhovka reservoir, three kilometers north-east of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The Defense Ministry reported that the Ukrainian servicemen were hemmed in by units of the Russian National Guard and the Russian Armed Forces.