Six people have been killed and 43 others injured in attacks targeting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and the nearby city of Energodar since mid-March, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev said.

Speaking after talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Likhachev said the facility had come under more than 460 drone attacks and over 15 artillery strikes during the period.

He warned that diesel fuel reserves used for the plant's emergency backup systems had fallen to the critical threshold of 50 percent, describing the situation as a serious threat to the safety of Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

Likhachev said discussions between Rosatom and the IAEA had resulted in the first concrete agreements since 2022 on measures aimed at strengthening the plant's safety and security.

He accused Ukraine of escalating attacks beyond "the limits of common sense" and warned that continued international silence over the strikes could further increase regional tensions.

Concerns over attacks on nuclear facilities

Likhachev's remarks came amid renewed international concern over the security of nuclear facilities in conflict zones.

Separately, Chinese nuclear expert Dr. Qian Yaxu criticized recent US strikes near Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, describing them as "a short-term political adventure."

He argued that despite hostilities between Israel and Iran, both sides had largely respected an unwritten red line against directly targeting nuclear facilities, adding that the US action had undermined that principle.

Qian warned that any future retaliation involving nuclear facilities could trigger radioactive contamination with irreversible consequences for the ecology of the Persian Gulf, while also deepening regional instability. (ILKHA)