Alexander Yakovlev, the chief engineer of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), was killed when a drone struck his official car, Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev said. The driver, Dmitry Filippov, also died in the attack, Likhachev added.
Likhachev claimed the strike was carried out by a Ukrainian drone, which hit a Toyota Camry at the boundary between the plant's industrial site and the city of Enerhodar. Ukrainian military officials and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had not commented on the incident as of publication. There was no independent confirmation that the drone belonged to Ukraine.
Yakovlev had worked at the ZNPP before Russian forces seized the plant in March 2022. Public records from 2018–2020 list him as a chief specialist for power units — head of a unit — within Ukraine's state nuclear company Energoatom. In April 2022, a month after the occupation, Yakovlev was deputy chief engineer for operations at the ZNPP. At the time, he said plant staff were ensuring safe electricity production for Ukraine under Russian occupation.
By no later than July 2023, Yakovlev was listed as chief engineer of the plant's Russian-installed administration. In October 2022, Russian authorities created the company 'Operating Organization of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,' linked to Rosatom, to manage the facility. Yakovlev was listed on the Ukrainian website Myrotvorets, which accused him of cooperating with Russian authorities and 'aiding the occupiers in committing an act of nuclear terrorism and blackmail.'
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the IAEA and other international organizations to condemn Yakovlev's death. She said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi 'must finally see' this 'crime of the Kyiv regime.'
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear power station in Europe. It has been under Russian control since March 2022. All six of its reactors have been shut down since September 2022. The plant requires external power to run its cooling and safety systems.
Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) has previously reported that Russian forces have turned the ZNPP into a military base, stationing drone control points and weapons depots there. According to the GUR, military equipment has been installed in the turbine halls of four power units, and machine-gun nests and missile systems have been placed on the roofs of reactor buildings.