Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom reported Sunday a fire at one of the cooling towers at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, located in Russian-controlled Ukraine. Attack of Ukrainian drones.

“On August 11 at 20:20 and 20:32, one of the two cooling towers of the Zaporizhzhya NPP was hit twice by Ukrainian drones, which led to a fire inside the structure,” Rosatom told the TASS news agency.

The Russian government agency indicates that by 11:30 p.m. the main fire had already been extinguished by the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

“However, the internal structure the cooling tower is seriously damaged“The risk of the structure collapsing will be assessed by specialists when the situation allows,” he said.

According to Russian sources, the attack was carried out by kamikaze drones launched from the city of Nikopol, on the western bank of the Dnieper River. In any case, radiation levels are within normal limits and the situation is under control.

Six nuclear power plant reactors are in operation. cold stop conditiontherefore, there is no risk of any steam explosion, as the pro-Russian governor of the Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, emphasized in his Telegram channel.

The nuclear power plant notified the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “IAEA experts saw heavy dark smoke coming from the northern part of the Zaporizhia NPP after several explosions occurred in the afternoon,” the IAEA said in a statement posted on its X account.

“The team was informed today of a suspected drone attack on one of the cooling towers at the site. “No impacts posing a threat to nuclear safety were recorded,” he added.

On the Ukrainian side, the commander of the Nikopol Military District, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, emphasized that although a fire occurred, it does not pose a danger to the nuclear power plant, which is controlled by Russian troops.

“Calm down, please. The fire is not at the nuclear power plant,” he said on his Telegram channel. Yevtushenko noted that the Russian troops themselves could have caused it. they would set it on fire a large number of tires inside the cooling tower.

“This could be a provocation or an attempt to cause panic among the population on the western bank of the river. At present, the nuclear power plant is operating as normally as possible under occupation,” he noted. (Europa Press).