Rosatom has demanded clearer action from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over Ukrainian strikes on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant and the city of Energodar.

According to Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev, Russia has urged the IAEA to provide an adequate response and take practical steps following Ukrainian attacks on the facility. Likhachev held an “extraordinary unscheduled” phone call with the IAEA leadership and Director General Rafael Grossi Monday to discuss the “inadequacy” of the watchdog’s reaction after a Ukrainian fiber-optics-guided drone struck the machine hall of Zaporozhye NPP’s sixth power unit, puncturing a hole in the building on Saturday.

The Rosatom chief described the strike as the “first targeted attack on an operating nuclear power unit in human history,” stating that Russia expects a clear response from the IAEA including “indications of both the perpetrators and the reasons for all these strikes.”

The IAEA, which has experts deployed at the Zaporozhye NPP, acknowledged damage consistent with the impact of a drone but once again did not blame Ukraine. Grossi characterized the strike as “a serious incident that endangered key nuclear safety principles.”

Likhachev told journalists after the call that the IAEA’s silence, absence of assessments and personification of risks amounts to a “green light for further escalation.” He added: “Radiation knows no borders and does not recognize passports. In this sense, any nuclear incident poses a threat to a number of countries and this threat will last for many years.”

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been targeted by Ukraine on multiple occasions since Russia took control of the facility in March 2022.

In recent months, according to the Rosatom chief, Kiev has increasingly targeted infrastructure linked to the plant and in Energodar, including kindergartens, schools, roads, transport enterprises, and vehicles carrying supplies for the community.

Likhachev added that face-to-face contacts with the IAEA will continue this week. Interdepartmental consultations involving Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, Rostekhnadzor, Rosatom, and IAEA leaders are scheduled for early July.