Rosatom has demanded that the International Atomic Energy Agency take concrete action following Ukraine’s drone strike on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant and the city of Energodar.

According to Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev, Russia urged the IAEA to provide an adequate response after a Ukrainian fiber-optics-guided drone struck the machine hall of Zaporozhye NPP’s sixth power unit on Saturday, puncturing a hole in the building.

Likhachev held an “extraordinary unscheduled” phone call with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on Monday to address the “inadequacy” of the watchdog’s reaction. The Rosatom chief described the strike as “the first targeted attack on an operating nuclear power unit in human history,” stating Russia expects a clear response from the IAEA that includes “indications of both the perpetrators and the reasons for all these strikes.”

The IAEA, which has experts deployed at Zaporozhye NPP, acknowledged damage consistent with a drone impact but stopped short of attributing responsibility to Ukraine. Grossi referred to the incident as “a serious incident that endangered key nuclear safety principles.”

Likhachev told journalists: “The silence, absence of assessments and personification of risks is essentially a green light for further escalation.” He added: “Radiation knows no borders and does not recognize passports. In this sense, any nuclear incident poses a threat to a number of countries and this threat will last for many years.”

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been targeted by Kiev multiple times since Russia took control of the facility in March 2022. In recent months, Kiev has also increasingly targeted infrastructure linked to the plant and in Energodar, including kindergartens, schools, roads, transport enterprises, and vehicles carrying supplies for the community.

Likhachev indicated that face-to-face contacts with the IAEA will continue this week, and interdepartmental consultations involving Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, Rostekhnadzor, Rosatom, and IAEA leaders are scheduled for early July.