Russian troops are employing kamikaze drones over the nuclear reactors of the temporarily occupied ZNPP. They have equipped launch pads for these drones near the sixth reactor, according to Ukraine's Military Intelligence (HUR).
Special intelligence units have obtained video evidence showing Russian forces using kamikaze drones over the nuclear reactors of the power plant.
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The video, captured by an enemy FPV drone and obtained through electronic intelligence, bears the UT4D.TT marking, indicating that the Russian Ministry of Defense supplied the drone to the occupation forces.
According to intelligence reports, the flight path of the Russian kamikaze drone extends over the ZNPP power units towards the Ukrainian-controlled Nikopol and Marhanets communities, which are under constant enemy attack.
The Kremlin's army utilizes the ZNPP territory to launch drones, exploiting the fact that the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine cannot return fire within the 1.5-kilometer zone around the plant.
"Moreover, since the summer of 2023, the territory of the seized nuclear power plant has been used by the Russians to train FPV drone pilots. This training is conducted by the so-called Arkhangel school, funded by the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (formerly GRU)," reported HUR.
Last month, the Russian occupation administration of the Zaporizhzhia NPP informed the IAEA experts present at the plant about a new attempted drone attack on the ZNPP training centre.
British Defence Intelligence Update Ukraine 5 December 2024
However, they did not provide any other details and did not allow the experts to assess the incident.
The recent attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "mark the beginning of a new and gravely dangerous front of the war," said the director-general of the UN atomic agency after the emergency.
The attacks "marked a major escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers in Ukraine," Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in Vienna.
The Zaporizhzhia plant (ZNPP), which Russia has occupied since March 2022, has been hit by a series of drone attacks since Sunday, with Moscow and Kyiv each accusing the other.
They were the first attacks since November 2022 on the plant -- once the largest nuclear power station in Europe but which now is not in operation.
"There should be no attack of any kind from or against the plant, in particular targeting the reactors, spent fuel storage, other critical infrastructure, or personnel," Grossi said.
In addition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed Russia’s destruction of almost all thermal power generation in Ukraine.
“Dams and equipment of hydroelectric power plants, as well as gas infrastructure, are under terrorist attacks,” he said.
He warned of ongoing Russian radiation blackmail, particularly endangering the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
“We do not rule out that the infrastructure of our other nuclear power plants and distribution networks are also under threat from Russian terror,” the president added.
He reported the urgent need for air defense systems such as the Patriot, IRIS-T, SAMP-T, and NASAMS from European partners “to stop Putin from relying on terrorist methods.”
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