BRUSSELS. June 21 (Interfax) - Damage that a drone attack has caused to the Luch sub-station in the city of Energodar has affected nuclear safety and security, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said on Friday.
"The damage sustained by the Luch substation had a direct impact on plant staff who live in Energodar, [territory] immediately adjacent to the plant, and therefore also an impact on nuclear safety and security" the IAEA quoted Grossi as saying in a press release.
The Energodar administration said on June 19 that the city was cut off from power supply as the substation was attacked by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
"The cause of the emergency power outage was a direct hit by the adversary's unmanned aerial vehicles on the Luch substation," the city administration said on Telegram.
Energodar Mayor Eduard Senovoz said the sub-station was destroyed.
"A key infrastructure element, the Luch substation that supplies power to the city, has been destroyed. Besides drone strikes on the substation, a number of artillery rounds hit an area near a high-voltage power line," he said.
Energodar houses the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, the largest of its kind in Europe.