Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed that a Ukrainian nuclear power plant was the likely target of a Russian drone attack in western Ukraine that wounded 20 people.
“It is most likely that the target for these drones was the Khmelnytskiy nuclear power station. The shock wave from the explosion shattered windows, including on the nuclear power station’s premises,” Zelenskiy said on October 25 in his nightly video address.
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Zelenskiy added that every Russian strike “especially those daring enough to target nuclear power stations and other critical facilities, serves as an argument that pressure on the terrorist state is insufficient.”
The Energy Ministry said earlier on Telegram that windows in administrative and laboratory buildings were damaged as a result of the explosion.
Power lines were also damaged, the ministry added, putting more than 1,800 customers in the towns of Netishyn and Slavuta at risk of power cuts. Both towns are just kilometers from the Khmelnytskiy nuclear power plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its experts present at the plant said air-raid sirens went off at 1:26 a.m. local time on October 25 and were followed later in the morning by the sound of two loud explosions. The IAEA experts were told that two drones had been shot down — one about 5 kilometers from the plant and the other about 20 kilometers away.
“This incident again underlines the extremely precarious nuclear safety situation in Ukraine, which will continue as long as this tragic war goes on,” IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said in a statement. “The fact that numerous windows at the site were destroyed shows just how close it was….
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