A worker at the Zaporizhzhia NPP has been killed in a drone attack, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. According to the agency, the victim was a welder in the plant's central repair shop.
The IAEA did not say who was responsible for the attack or provide further details about the circumstances surrounding it. The agency's Director General, Rafael Grossi, described the attack on a nuclear plant employee as “completely unacceptable” and again called for maximum military restraint in the area.
The Zaporozhye NPP has been under Russian control since 2022. Since the beginning of the war, Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of actions around the facility that, according to the IAEA, could endanger nuclear safety. The latest incident so far has been linked to a human victim, without the agency reporting any damage to the reactors or a radiation leak.
Mine clearance around Oleshki is complete
Against the news of the attack, Russia and Ukraine announced that the mine clearance of the designated routes around the Russian-occupied town of Oleshki in the Kherson region has been completed. The humanitarian convoy is ready to depart for the city's central hospital.
„Mine clearance of the routes for the humanitarian mission in Oleshki has been completed. The humanitarian convoy is ready to leave,” Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lyubinets and Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova said in almost identical statements.
Oleshki is located on the left bank of the Dnieper, opposite Kherson. The city is facing shortages of food, medicine and other basic goods. The agreed local ceasefire regime began on October 27 and is aimed at ensuring access for the humanitarian mission, as well as the safe movement of civilians.
Civilian evacuation also planned
Residents wishing to leave Oleshki will be able to do so until 2:00 p.m. local time on October 30. The distribution of aid to those remaining in the city is due to begin after 2:30 p.m.
Representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the United States, as well as journalists from the three countries, have gathered to coordinate the operation. The mission is being carried out with the participation of Lyubinets and Lantratova, and the temporary ceasefire should allow for the delivery of aid and the evacuation of those wishing to leave.
Sources: investing.com, apnews.com, devdiscourse.com