The International Atomic Energy Agency has called for immediate access to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine after a drone was reported to have struck a turbine building within the complex. The plant, which has been under Russian military control since March 2022, is said to have notified the agency directly, and an IAEA team already stationed on site has formally requested permission to inspect the affected structure. It is believed that, if confirmed, this would represent the first such strike within the plant's perimeter since April 2024. Russia's state nuclear energy company, Rosatom, was among the first to characterise the incident, with its director Alexei Likhachev claiming that a Ukrainian drone had struck the turbine hall of Power Unit No.

6 on Saturday afternoon, causing a subsequent detonation and tearing a hole in the building's outer wall. Likhachev described the strike as deliberate, though he acknowledged that primary equipment had not been damaged. Zaporizhzhia, which has a generating capacity of nearly 6,000 megawatts and houses six reactors — all of which have remained shut down for safety reasons since Russian forces seized the site — is widely regarded as a facility whose compromise could trigger catastrophic consequences. Ukraine's military categorically denied any involvement, with officials insisting that its servicemen operate strictly within international humanitarian law and are fully conscious of the risks associated with targeting nuclear infrastructure.

No active fighting was said to have been recorded along the relevant section of the front at the time of the incident, a claim that appeared intended to cast further doubt on Russia's account.