Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev said the drone struck a gallery used by personnel to move between the plant’s six reactor units overnight Saturday.
“There was no explosion,” Likhachev said, adding that the strike occurred just a few meters from the reactor compartment of Unit 3.
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He also claimed that Ukrainian forces had attempted to strike the plant’s dry spent nuclear fuel storage facility the previous week.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Likhachev said the plant is currently receiving electricity through a single 330-kilovolt transmission line. A second line, which Russian crews had repaired in June, has not yet been reconnected, he said.
The Russian official also reported continued drone and artillery attacks around Enerhodar, the nearby city where many of the plant’s employees live.
According to Likhachev, one woman was killed when a drone struck a residential building Friday. He said 15 residents of Enerhodar had been killed and 51 injured since late April.
Likhachev accused the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of making insufficient efforts to protect the facility’s safety. He said discussions had included a possible visit by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to Enerhodar and the nuclear plant.
The Zaporizhzhia facility, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has been under Russian control since March 2022. It has repeatedly been affected by military activity during the war, with Russia and Ukraine accusing each other of endangering the site.
The IAEA has repeatedly warned that military activity around the plant poses a serious nuclear safety risk and has maintained a monitoring mission there since 2022.
