Moscow accuses Kyiv of killing Zaporizhzhia chief engineer

Russia on Wednesday accused Ukrainian forces of killing the chief engineer of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in a drone strike.

The head of Russian nuclear giant Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev said Aleksandr Yakovlev died in a "targeted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime".

Yakovlev and a driver were killed when "a drone belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces" hit a service vehicle near the plant, he added.

Russia controls the plant in southern Ukraine.

Likhachev said in a post on Rosatom's Telegram account that Yakovlev "devoted his entire life to nuclear energy and he died, in effect, at his combat post".

So far, the Russian authorities have not released any further information about the attack.

The Telegram accounts of the plant and Rosatom have never previously mentioned Yakovlev.

Normally, the plant's Moscow-appointed director Yuri Chernichuk, a former chief engineer at the plant, speaks publicly.

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to condemn what she called "this murder".

Russian troops captured the Zaporizhzhia plant in March 2022, shortly after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The plant is the largest in Europe and its safety has been a recurring source of concern throughout the long-running conflict.

Both sides regularly accuse the other of carrying out strikes on the site, which is located in Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro river, which marks the frontline in the area.