“The Russian Defense Ministry claims it has detected and intercepted nine Ukrainian copter drones with propellers near the town of Energodar, near the nuclear power plant,” a statement said. Moscow accuses Kiev of “provocations aimed at threatening the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant with a man-made disaster” and of wanting to “disrupt the rotation of the staff of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” whose inspectors are on the ground.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, has been occupied by Russian forces since the start of the conflict and has been repeatedly targeted by bombings. Both sides accuse each other of trying to cause a disaster. In late October, Russia accused Ukraine of using drones to attack a nuclear power plant in Russia’s Kursk border region, hitting an administrative building and a nuclear waste storage facility. However, the plant operator said that no increased radioactivity had been observed as a result of the attack.”