Yaroslav Konoshchuk11:22, 26.09.25
IAEA experts spotted 22 drones over a nuclear power plant in the Mykolaiv region.
On the night of September 25, a drone crashed and exploded 800 meters from the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant , IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reported .
“Drones are once again flying too close to nuclear power plants, jeopardizing nuclear safety. Fortunately, the incident did not result in damage to the South Ukrainian NPP itself. Next time we may not be so lucky,” the organization’s director general noted.
It is noted that IAEA experts received a report from station personnel that 22 drones were spotted in the surveillance zone, some of which approached the station at a distance of up to half a kilometer.
“From their residence near the station, members of the IAEA team heard gunfire and explosions at around 01:00 local time. And today (September 25, – UNIAN) they visited the site of the crash of one of the drones, where they saw a crater measuring four square meters on the surface and about one meter deep,” the IAEA Director General said in a statement.
According to the organization’s experts, the debris damaged metal structures near the station, and cars parked near the impact zone were left without glass.
A regional 150 kilovolt power line was also damaged. It is noted that it was not connected to the nuclear power plant and there was no direct impact on nuclear safety.
Russian attacks on Ukrainian nuclear power plants – main news
Russia has been systematically attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including nuclear power plants. In particular, on the night of April 9, eight drones were spotted near the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant .
In February 2025, a Russian drone hit the Arch structure above the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl NPP , damaging the cladding and crane system.
On November 17, 2024, Russian attacks damaged substations serving three nuclear power plants, which was one of the reasons for the introduction of emergency power outages.
(c)UNIAN 2025