Russia opens criminal case into death of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant chief engineer
Moscow, July 16
Russia's Investigative Committee said on Thursday that it has opened a criminal case into the death of the chief engineer of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on his vehicle.
The committee's official representative, Svetlana Petrenko, said the investigation found that the vehicle carrying Alexander Yakovlev was struck by a Ukrainian drone on Wednesday in Enerhodar, killing the chief engineer and his driver and injuring a third passenger, a plant employee.
Yevgeny Balitsky, governor of the Russia-controlled part of the Zaporizhzhia region, reiterated on Wednesday that Ukraine has been actively trying to stop the operation of the nuclear plant by conducting massive drone strikes on energy facilities, shops, civilian vehicles and social infrastructure, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, one of Europe's largest nuclear power facilities, has been under Russian control since March 2022.
Earlier this month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) lost its off-site power supply for the 21st time since the Ukraine crisis, underscoring the vulnerability of the plant's nuclear safety.
The outage occurred after the plant lost its connection to the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 transmission line, the IAEA said in its post on X.
According to the IAEA team stationed at the site, military activity triggered the electrical protection systems on transmission lines linking the ZNPP to the Ferosplavna-1 line.
Following the loss of off-site power, the plant's emergency diesel generators automatically started operating to maintain electricity for reactor cooling systems and other essential nuclear safety functions, the IAEA said.
"The latest loss of off-site power again highlights the extreme fragility of nuclear safety at the plant and the need for maximum military restraint to help prevent a nuclear accident," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said.
— IANS
Reader Comments
I don't understand why civilians have to pay the price for political conflicts. This chief engineer was just doing his job, trying to keep the plant safe. 21 times the plant has lost power - that's not just bad luck, it's a failure of all sides to protect nuclear safety.
We need to be careful about which side we believe. Russia controls the plant and claims it was a Ukrainian drone attack, but there's no independent verification. With both sides spreading propaganda, it's hard to know the truth. Lives are being lost regardless. 🇮🇳
As someone who works in energy policy, this is terrifying. Emergency diesel generators are not a long-term solution. If they fail during an outage, we could see a Fukushima-scale disaster. The IAEA needs more power to enforce safety zones around active nuclear plants.
India should learn from this. Our own nuclear plants at Kudankulam and elsewhere need to be protected from any potential conflict zones. We can't let our energy security become a hostage to geopolitics. Peaceful use of nuclear energy must be protected from war. ✌️
It's heartbreaking to see a nuclear engineer killed for just doing his job. The international community needs to step up - not just with statements, but concrete actions to create demilitarized zones around nuclear facilities. This is a crime against humanity waiting to happen.
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