Moscow and Kyiv engaged in a heated exchange of accusations on Sunday, each blaming the other for starting a fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest and now under Russian control. Despite the blaze, both sides reported no signs of elevated radiation levels. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, which has personnel at the six-reactor facility, stated that the fire did not appear to pose a threat to nuclear safety.
Russian state news agencies, TASS and RIA, citing the country’s nuclear energy company Rosatom, reported that the main fire was extinguished shortly before midnight on Sunday. The fire occurred less than a week after Ukraine’s forces launched their largest incursion into Russian territory since the war began in 2022, a surprise move that marked a new phase in the conflict, following weeks of Moscow’s battlefield gains. Ukraine’s nuclear power company, Energoatom, announced in a statement on Telegram that one of the cooling towers and other equipment sustained damage. Russia’s TASS agency, quoting Rosatom’s statement, also reported damage to a cooling tower. Citing local Russian emergency ministry representatives, TASS stated that the damaged tower was non-functioning.
Russia seized control of the plant from Ukraine shortly after launching its full-scale invasion in 2022, an attack described by Moscow as a “special operation.” The plant’s six nuclear reactors are currently in cold shutdown.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of deliberately starting the fire, claiming it was visible from the Kyiv-held city of Nikopol, which overlooks the Russian-controlled plant. Evgeny Balitsky, a Russian-installed official in the occupied south of Ukraine, countered by accusing Kyiv’s forces of igniting the fire through shelling the nearby city of Enerhodar, which, like the plant, fell under Russian control after the February 2022 invasion. The IAEA confirmed that no reported impact on nuclear safety at the site had occurred.
“Team was told by (the nuclear plant) of an alleged drone attack today on one of the cooling towers located at the site,” the agency wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Ukraine’s Energoatom attributed the fire to either Russia’s “negligence” or arson, suggesting without providing evidence that Russia uses the plant’s cooling towers to store military equipment and explosives. In turn, Russian officials, including Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, accused Kyiv of deliberately trying to destroy the plant and spread “nuclear terror.”
Zelenskyy released grainy footage showing billowing black smoke seemingly emanating from a cooling tower with flames burning at its base. “Currently, the radiation indicators are normal. But as long as Russian terrorists retain control over the nuclear plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal,” he stated. The six reactors at the plant, situated close to the war’s front line in Ukraine, are not operational, but the facility relies on external power to maintain the cooling of its nuclear material and prevent a catastrophic accident.
“IAEA experts witnessed strong dark smoke coming from ZNPP’s northern area following multiple explosions heard in the evening,” the agency said on X, formerly Twitter, referring to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“Team was told by ZNPP of an alleged drone attack today on one of the cooling towers located at the site,” added the statement from the International Atomic Energy Agency. “No impact has been reported for nuclear safety.” Moscow and Kyiv have routinely accused each other of endangering safety around the plant.
