IAEA chief blasts Zaporizhzhia plant strikes after two workers killed

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi came out swinging Monday over the latest strikes on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, calling them attacks on nuclear safety itself. In his words, they are unacceptable and violate indispensable nuclear safety pillars.

The human toll landed hard. One plant worker was killed in a drone strike, according to the report, and another person died in a separate attack on the Zaporizhzhia thermal power plant.

Grossi said the attacks on nuclear plant workers have to end right now. All nuclear plant personnel, he added, must be able to carry out their important work without undue stress or fear.

The strikes hit as diplomacy gears up: Moscow, Kyiv and Washington are set to meet in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov welcomed the security-centered agenda, saying the talks should cover Russian, Ukrainian and wider regional security — and might produce principles that could feed into a possible comprehensive settlement.

The European Union will send two representatives to the trilateral talks, Politico reported Monday: Bjoern Seibert, head of cabinet for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Anna-Maria Boura, chief foreign policy advisor to European Council leader Antonio Costa. The sources did not say whether the EU delegation will sit at the negotiation table.

Elsewhere, Canadian Foreign Secretary Anita Anand announced a fresh sanctions package aimed at weakening Russia's military capabilities, targeting 38 entities and 24 individuals, including some tied to ballistic missile production and alleged cybercrime attempts. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi pushed back on calls for a referendum on territorial concessions, arguing votes held under occupation serve as instruments of annexation rather than expressions of popular will.