The head of security at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has been killed in a car bombing, authorities in Kyiv and Moscow said Friday.
Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency said Andriy Korotkiy was inside his vehicle when it was hit by an explosion at around 7:00 a.m. local time in the Russian-occupied city of Enerhodar.
The HUR shared a blurry surveillance video of a white SUV being ripped apart by a powerful blast. The video’s authenticity could not be independently verified.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said its Zaporizhzhia region branch launched a criminal murder case over the incident. It said the victim, who was only identified by his job title and not by name, died from injuries in the hospital.
Ukraine’s HUR accused Korotkiy of defecting to the Russian occupying authorities and helping them commit “war crimes and repossessions against Ukrainians under occupation.”
Russia seized control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the largest in Europe, days after it launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The UN’s nuclear safety agency IAEA has urged restraint amid mutual accusations of attacks on the plant that could spark a major nuclear accident.
Ukraine’s HUR claimed Korotkiy had shared the personal data of pro-Ukrainian colleagues with the Russian occupational authorities and “regularly organized events” in support of the Russian forces. He was a member of Enerhodar’s Moscow-installed municipal council from the pro-Kremlin United Russia party.
“The HUR warns that every war criminal will receive fair retribution,” the Ukrainian military intelligence wrote on Facebook.
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