Nicolai Haugsted
Russia points finger at Ukraine after killing near nuclear power station.
Tensions surrounding Europe’s largest nuclear power plant have escalated once again after a senior engineer was killed in what Russian authorities describe as a Ukrainian drone strike. Moscow is now using the incident to issue stark warnings about the risks of further attacks near nuclear facilities.
The engineer, Alexander Yakovlev, 46, died alongside his driver while travelling in a service vehicle between the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the nearby town of Enerhodar, according to Russian officials. Ukraine has not commented on the incident.
Russia accuses Ukraine of targeting nuclear staff
Yakovlev served as chief engineer at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been under Russian control since the early stages of the 2022 invasion.
Russian officials reacted furiously, demanding international condemnation of the attack.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said:
“This is a crime of the Kyiv regime that Grossi must finally see – we demand a clear statement condemning this killing from the relevant international bodies, first and foremost the IAEA,” he said according to Express.
Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev also called for a swift response from the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
“We expect the IAEA to respond promptly, concretely, and clearly to this tragedy.”
According to Russian reports, Yakovlev continued working at the plant after Russian forces occupied the area and later obtained a Russian passport. Ukrainian website Mirotvorets had listed him as a “traitor to the motherland” and an “accomplice to terrorists and Russian occupiers.”
IAEA condemns attack near nuclear facility
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi condemned the killing without assigning responsibility to either side.
He warned that the incident posed a serious threat to nuclear security.
Grossi also called for an “immediate end” to all attacks “on or near nuclear sites.”
The incident quickly triggered stronger rhetoric from senior Russian figures.
Pro-Kremlin MP Mikhail Sheremet, who represents the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government of seeking catastrophic consequences.
“I have no doubt that this terrorist attack was coordinated with the leadership of a number of NATO countries, which makes them direct accomplices in the crime.”
Sheremet also alleged that Zelensky’s administration was “so clearly striving to plunge the world into a nuclear apocalypse”.
Russian investigators have opened a criminal case into the deaths.
No official response had been issued by Ukraine at the time the reports emerged.
