“[My time at ACA] prepared me very well for the position that I took following that with the State Department, where I then implemented and helped to implement many of the policies that we tried to promote.”
Drone Strikes IAEA Vehicle at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant
January/February 2025
The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) condemned the drone strike on an IAEA vehicle at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Dec. 10.
The attack took place as the vehicle and its driver were leaving the site to collect members of the team that was completing the 26th rotation of personnel for the IAEA support and assistance mission to Zaporizhzhia. There were no injuries. The strike took place within Ukrainian-controlled territory approximately 8 kilometers from the frontline with invading Russian forces, according to an IAEA statement.
Speaking at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting on Dec. 12, Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that the drone was a “so-called loitering munition which is designed to explode on impact. As a result, there is no discernible debris to be recovered.”
He reminded the international community to exercise “the maximum restraint” and avoid “pointing fingers” because there are not “irrevocable and definite elements” to identify the attacker after much of the drone evidence was destroyed.
In a post on the social platform X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the strike. “The Russians could not have been unaware of their target; they knew exactly what they were doing and acted deliberately,” he wrote. “This attack demands a clear and decisive response…. Silence or inaction will only embolden further violations.”
On Nov. 7, Grossi commented on the 25th support and assistance mission to Ukraine, saying, “We will stay at these sites for as long as it is needed to help avert the threat of a nuclear accident that could have serious consequences for human health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond. As the nuclear safety and security situation remains highly challenging, our experts are continuing to play a crucial stabilizing role at all these facilities.”
That message has not changed since the attack. As Grossi briefed the IAEA board, he reaffirmed that, “[o]n our own will, we will not cease our operation. We will continue there.”
The IAEA has been on the ground at Zaporizhzhia since September 2022 when Grossi led the first support and assistance mission to the nuclear complex.—LIBBY FLATOFF