Drones killed an employee of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and a worker at the nearby thermal power plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday, Nov. 9, the Kyiv Independent reported. The agency did not say which side carried out the attacks.
Related: Russian Strikes Cut Power to About 850,000 in Ukraine as Zaporizhzhia Plant Loses Outside Supply.
What we know
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi “strongly condemns the deadly strikes,” the agency said in a post on X, the Kyiv Independent reported. The agency said the strikes “represent unacceptable attacks violating indispensable nuclear safety pillars.” It gave no further details of the two deaths.
The nuclear plant, in the city of Enerhodar, is Europe’s largest and has been under Russian occupation since the full-scale invasion began, the Kyiv Independent reported.
The plant lost its sole 330-kilovolt external power line for about 10 hours on Nov. 8, the outlet reported. It relied on emergency diesel generators for cooling and safety functions until power returned.
The deaths followed earlier attacks on staff. A drone strike on Oct. 29 killed a plant employee, reportedly a welder, according to the IAEA. In August, a drone explosion at a bus stop used by plant personnel killed one person and injured 15, the IAEA said.
Strikes on the grid
Russia attacked 10 Ukrainian regions overnight into Tuesday, Nov. 10, and hit five major substations that move electricity between regions, Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said, The Guardian reported. The substations were in the Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia and Kirovohrad regions, he said.
Russia launched one Iskander-M ballistic missile and 162 long-range drones, including 96 jet-powered drones, Ukraine’s air force said, the Kyiv Independent reported. Air defenses intercepted 135 drones as of about 7:30 a.m. local time, the air force said. Drone impacts were recorded at 19 locations.
Attacks left 60,788 customers in the Pervomaisk district of Mykolaiv region without power, local authorities said, according to the Kyiv Independent. An energy facility in Kyiv region’s Boryspil district was also damaged, Gov. Tymur Tkachenko said.
Separately, Russian forces struck the Trypillia Thermal Power Plant south of Kyiv, the state energy company Centrenergo said on Nov. 9, the Kyiv Independent reported. Centrenergo warned of “extremely serious” consequences, though it said the extent of the damage required further inspection.
“The nature of the Russian attacks has changed significantly,” Centrenergo CEO Serhiy Isachenko said. He said Russia could now use ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones against one target within a short period.
Casualties by region
Russian attacks killed nine people and injured 39 across Ukraine over the past day, regional officials reported, according to the Kyiv Independent. A one-year-old child was among the injured in Kharkiv region.
Three people were killed in Donetsk region and three in Odesa region, local officials said. One person each was killed in the Kherson, Kyiv and Sumy regions.
What comes next
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of intensifying strikes to put pressure on Kyiv at the U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi, The Guardian reported. Those talks opened on Tuesday.
Daily figures are on the Ukraine war tracker, and more reporting is on the war news page.
Sources
- Kyiv Independent: Drone strike kills worker at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, IAEA says
- The Guardian: Russia launched deadly Ukraine attacks hours before start of Abu Dhabi talks
- Kyiv Independent: Russian attacks kill 9, injure 39 including a 1-year-old across Ukraine over past day
- Kyiv Independent: Energy company warns of ‘extremely serious’ consequences after Russian forces strike Trypillia Thermal Power Plant
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