Following damage to buildings at Ukraine’s Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant, President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more weapons aid to fend off Russian airstrikes. “This attack on the nuclear power plant is yet another reminder to all our partners of the importance of strengthening Ukraine’s air defense,” Zelensky said in his video address today. The attack also shows how easily Russia can still bypass sanctions and incorporate Western parts into its drones and missiles.
A Russian drone strike the night before injured 16 people in the Khmelnytskyi region of western Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy, the pressure wave from the explosions near the nuclear power plant caused the windows of several administrative buildings to burst.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the damage. “This incident once again highlights the very precarious situation of nuclear security in Ukraine while this tragic war continues,” said IAEA Director Rafael Grossi in Vienna. It wasn’t just windows and buildings that were damaged. Due to power cuts in the area, radiation measuring stations around the nuclear plant would have to work on emergency power at times.