SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
UN nuclear watchdog head condemns 'direct' drone attack on agency car in Ukraine
Vienna, Dec 12 (AFP) Dec 12, 2024
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Thursday condemned a "direct" drone attack that destroyed a clearly marked agency car in Ukraine earlier this week, saying the strike had the "clear intention to harm".

On Tuesday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said a drone had hit and severely damaged one of its official vehicles on the road to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Nobody was injured in the attack, but Kyiv and Moscow have since traded blame over the strike.

Grossi on Thursday addressed the governing board of the Vienna-based IAEA, which held an emergency meeting at Ukraine's request to discuss its "unstable" energy infrastructure.

"On Tuesday, a drone hit a clearly marked IAEA vehicle which was completing the rotation of IAEA staff," Grossi told the extraordinary meeting.

"Whoever did this knew exactly what was being done. That convoy had three Ukrainian vehicles, then the vehicles of the IAEA and it was our vehicle which was hit," he said.

"It was a clear intention to harm us or to intimidate us. This was a direct attack," Grossi added, without apportioning blame.

While the rear of the armoured agency vehicle was completely destroyed, a driver and a security officer travelling on board were both physically unharmed.

The IAEA has a permanent presence at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia atomic plant, which has become the target of repeated strikes.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Grossi has warned of the potential for a nuclear accident at the plant.

"This is not the first time that we have been confronting difficulties, but this one was particularly concerning," Grossi said, reiterating his calls for "maximum restraint".

In recent weeks, Moscow has stepped up bombardments of Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Kyiv has tabled a resolution at the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors, voicing "concern" over the danger posed by repeated attacks on its "vulnerable" energy infrastructure that have "further endangered nuclear safety".

The resolution will be put to a vote on Thursday.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
UK opens competitive bid for GBP 75 million orbital cleanup mission
UK invests $191 mn in European satellite firm Eutelsat
Bearings Used in Space Technologies: Engineering for the Final Frontier

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Atomic 6 receives 2M Space Force award to advance next generation solar arrays
ESA and Neuraspace develop autonomous satellite navigation technologies
Planet secures 240 million euro satellite services contract with German government

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
London, Paris tighten nuclear bond over US, Russia concerns
Iran says cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog will take 'new form'
Six killed in massive Russian drone, missile attack across Ukraine

24/7 News Coverage
Ancient zircon data reveals tectonic origin of Earth's first continental crust
Autonomous sub explores unexplored trench depths to reveal critical mineral clues
Europe launches first geostationary atmospheric sounder to boost extreme weather forecasts



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.