A senior security worker at Europe's largest Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was killed in a car bomb explosion on the morning of October 4, RT quoted the Russian Investigative Committee as saying.
The Ukrainian military intelligence agency praised the incident on Telegram, while not publicly claiming responsibility for the bombing.
According to Russian investigators, a homemade bomb was placed under the car of Andrey Korotky - a senior security official at the plant - and exploded. Korotky died from severe injuries.
The Military Intelligence Service of Ukraine (HUR) immediately commented on the incident on Telegram, considering Korotky a "war criminal" and a " collaborator" for deciding to "voluntarily" cooperate with Russia. The agency also accused Korotky of organizing "pro-Russian military events" and joining the United Russia party.
HUR also released a video showing the moment of the explosion and said it would " take revenge" on anyone they considered a "war criminal".
The Zaporizhzhia plant confirmed the death of the employee and informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the incident - the plant's communications director, Evgenia Yashina, told TASS.
Plant director Yury Chernichuk condemned the bombing as a "horrific, inhumane terrorist act" and demanded that those behind it be brought to trial.
"Attacking personnel responsible for the security of a nuclear facility is a reckless step that crosses all limits," Chernichuk said. The UN nuclear watchdog has yet to comment on the incident.
The Russian Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case for murder but did not name any suspects.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been under Russian control since March 2022. Moscow and Kiev have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the facility during the conflict, and the Russian Defense Ministry said some of the efforts by Ukrainian attack units to retake the plant had been repelled.
The Zaporizhzhia region will officially join Russia, along with three other former territories of Ukraine, in the fall of 2022. IAEA has a permanent monitoring mission at the nuclear facility.
At the end of August, senior Russian diplomat Rodion Miroshnik said that the plant's staff had faced blackmail. Those working at the facility are believed to have been forced to cooperate with Kiev and transmit sensitive data or even carry out terrorist acts.
