IAEA says drone detonated near South Ukraine nuclear plant

A drone was downed and detonated about 800 metres (875 yards) from the perimeter of Ukraine's South Ukraine nuclear power plant overnight, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement on Thursday.

There were no reports of casualties, the IAEA said.

The agency, in a statement issued by its Director General, Rafael Grossi, said its team of monitors at the site was informed that 22 drones were observed in the plant's monitoring zone late on Wednesday and early on Thursday. Some drones had flown as close as 500 metres.

Grossi said monitors had heard gunfire and explosions at about 1 a.m. and later visited the site where the drone came down and observed a crater about four metres square.

"Nearby metal structures had been hit by shrapnel and the windows of vehicles close to the impact area were shattered," Grossi wrote. A power line also came down, though it was not connected to the plant.

"Once again, drones are flying far too close to nuclear power plants, putting nuclear safety at risk," he wrote. "Fortunately, last night's incident did not result in any damage to the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant itself. Next time we may not be so lucky."

Ukraine has four nuclear power plants and has reported occasional incidents related to the 3-1/2 year war at its South Ukraine, Rivne and Khmelnitskyi stations.

At the Zaporizhzhia station, seized by Russian troops in the first weeks of the war, Russia and Ukraine routinely accuse each other of attacks compromising nuclear safety.

Grossi was attending a nuclear power forum in Moscow and, writing on the X social media platform, described his meeting with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin as "timely and important". The meeting was devoted to "nuclear energy, non-proliferation, and nuclear safety and security challenges", he added.

The governor of Russia's western Kursk region earlier in the day reported that a Ukrainian drone attempted to attack the Kursk-2 nuclear power plant, which is under construction in the town of Kurchatov.

Alexander Khinshtein said the drone crashed into one of the buildings at the construction site, adding that there were no casualties and the station continues to operate normally.

The IAEA's latest statement on the Ukrainian nuclear power plants said the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia station had been without power for more than 48 hours after external power lines supplying the plant came down for the 10th time in the conflict.

The lines supply electricity vital to cooling its reactors' fuel and preventing a meltdown. Emergency diesel generators were in operation.