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U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the new pope and leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Pope Leo XIV, a senior cardinal announced on May 8 to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, according to Vatican News.

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IAEA: Drone detonated at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

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IAEA: Drone detonated at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
A view of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on June 15, 2023. (Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images)

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that a drone detonated on its site on April 7, according to the IAEA.  

A detonation is consistent with IAEA observations, the IAEA wrote in a post on X.

“I urge to refrain from actions that contradict the 5 IAEA principles and jeopardise nuclear safety,” Director General Rafael Grossi said in the IAEA post.

The post did not provide any details about who had launched the drone.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022.

Earlier in the week, the state nuclear energy agency Energoatom announced that the power plant was "on the verge of blackout" after a recent Russian attack.

On April 4, Energoatom noted that the plant is connected to Ukraine's energy system only by one power line, which was recently restored. This situation "threatens to cause an emergency," Energoatom said.

Occupied Ukrainian plant becomes epicenter of Russia’s nuclear blackmail
Anticipating a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the country’s south, Russia is turning the six-reactor Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in occupied Enerhodar into a ticking time bomb. Repeated Russian shelling from within the plant’s territory, causing one of the reactors to shut down, has put the en…
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The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

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