Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant employee killed in bomb attack, Russia says

An employee at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine was killed on Friday morning in a car bomb attack, Russian investigators said, in an attack the plant blamed on Ukraine.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said the employee, Andrei Korotkiy, died after a bomb planted under his car went off outside his house in the city of Enerhodar, where the plant is located.

Korotkiy worked in the plant's security department, the Committee said. A criminal case has been opened into his death.

In a statement, the plant accused Ukrainian authorities of orchestrating the murder.

"This is a horrific, inhumane act," said plant director Yuri Chernichuk, vowing punishment for the attackers.

"An attack on employees ensuring the safety of the nuclear facility is a reckless, outrageous step."

Ukrainian military intelligence published a video of his car exploding and in a statement called Korotkiy a "war criminal" and collaborator, accusing him of repressing Ukrainians, as well as handing Russia a list of the plant's employees andthen pointing out people with pro-Ukrainian views.

"The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Ministry of Defence reminds people that every war criminal will be fairly punished," the Ukrainian agency said on its official Telegram channel.

Long-standing concerns about a plant accident

Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest with six reactors, soon after they entered Ukraine in February 2022 in what Moscow called a "special military operation."

Both sides have regularly accused each other of staging attacks on the plant, which both deny.

WATCH l Family prepares for worst-case scenarios living near nuclear plant:

Zaporizhzhia resident on 'exhausting' life next to Russian-controlled nuclear plant

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Denys Vasyliev lives in the Ukrainian city that is also home to Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian control since it invaded Ukraine. He says he talks to his family about the 'worst scenarios' and has procured safety equipment, but says they also focus on the 'best scenario' in order to stay positive.

Power lines to the Zaporizhzia plant have been cut on several occasions, increasing the chance of a blackout that could cause a nuclear accident.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has stationed monitors permanently at the plant and urged both sides to refrain from all attacks on it.

As the war heads towardits third winter, the Ukrainian air force said on Friday that Russia attacked critical infrastructure in the country with 19 drones overnight.

Air defences shot down nine drones, with seven more likely impacted by electronic jamming, it said in a statement, without saying what happened to the other three.

KyivMayor Vitali Klitschko said an apartment building had been damaged in the capital, but reported no casualties.

Russian forces also hit critical infrastructure, utility facilities and 35 private residences in the past day in the southern Kherson region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Various attacks there killed one and injured four more, he said.

Russia's Defence Ministry said in a statement that its air defences had shot down or intercepted 18 Ukrainian drones overnight, including six over the Belgorod region, six over the Voronezh region, one over the Rostov region and five over the Azov Sea. All are near Ukraine.