Chief engineer of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant killed in alleged drone attack

Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom announced that Alexander Yakovlev, chief engineer of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, was killed when a Ukrainian drone struck his vehicle near the plant on July 15. The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into the death, confirming that Yakovlev, his driver and a third passenger were hit.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry rejected the allegation, stating that “no independent verification of the Russian version has been presented and the information from Russian occupied structures cannot be considered reliable.” The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) condemned the incident, with Director General Rafael Grossi saying it “represents an unacceptable attack on the plant and its administration, seriously threatening nuclear safety.” The IAEA also highlighted the plant’s repeated loss of off‑site power, noting the latest outage underscores the “extreme fragility of nuclear safety at the plant.”

Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear facility, has been under Russian control since March 2022 and remains a focal point of the Ukraine‑Russia conflict, with ongoing concerns about the safety of its operations amid military activity.