A Ukrainian drone strike has killed an employee of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the plant’s Russian management said on Wednesday, in the latest death to underline the dangers facing staff at Europe’s largest nuclear facility.
The employee was killed at his home in Enerhodar, the town in south-eastern Ukraine where many of the plant’s staff live, after finishing his shift, according to a statement issued by the plant’s management. He is the 15th plant worker to be killed since April, the management said, as attacks in the area continue.
Russia seized the Zaporizhzhia plant, which has six reactors, in the first weeks of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, each side has repeatedly accused the other of military actions that put nuclear safety at risk, and the town of Enerhodar has come under frequent attack.
“The Ukrainian armed forces are continuing to strike homes in Enerhodar and nearby villages,” the plant’s management said in its statement, adding that “the fatigue from the nonstop shelling and its aftermath is growing rapidly. Living conditions in Enerhodar are directly linked to safety at the Zaporizhzhia plant.”
The management said another worker had been killed earlier this week, and that two people, including a female employee, were killed earlier in the month. In July, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said the plant’s chief engineer had been killed by a Ukrainian drone near the station.
The plant produces no electricity, but it still needs an external power supply to keep the fuel in its reactors cool, making the safety of its staff and its power lines a continuing concern for the International Atomic Energy Agency and for governments watching the war.
This report rests on the account of the plant’s Russian management, as reported by Reuters. Ukraine has not publicly commented on this specific strike in the reporting available, and the circumstances of the killing could not be independently verified.
Sources: Reuters, “Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant worker killed in drone strike, Russian management says”, 11 November 2026 — https://www.reuters.com/world/zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-worker-killed-drone-strike-russian-management-says-2026-11-11/
