The Russian chief doesn’t provide any proof for his declare however says the UN nuclear watchdog has been alerted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Ukrainian forces have tried to assault the Kursk Nuclear Energy Station in an in a single day raid.
The Russian chief didn’t provide proof for the declare however mentioned on Thursday that Moscow has knowledgeable the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company (IAEA), concerning the incident.
Ukraine has not responded to Russia’s allegations.
“The enemy tried to strike the nuclear energy plant at night time. The IAEA has been knowledgeable,” Putin mentioned in a televised authorities assembly.
Putin made the declare as Ukrainian forces continued to fight inside Russia greater than two weeks after launching an bold cross-border assault, which has develop into an embarrassing headache for Moscow.
Whereas the strategic goals of Ukraine’s Kursk incursion stay unsure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday mentioned the assault is a part of an effort to convey the conflict to an finish on phrases amenable to Ukraine.
Throughout a visit to the northern Sumy area, the place his forces launched their shock offensive into Russia, Zelenskyy mentioned Ukraine’s army had taken management of one other Russian village and captured extra prisoners of conflict.
The raids into Russian territory have additionally provided a much-needed boost for Ukrainian morale within the conflict, analysts mentioned.
Russian and Ukrainian forces have fought about 30km (18 miles) from the Kursk nuclear plant, prompting a name for restraint on either side from Rafael Grossi, the IAEA director common, on August 9.
Appearing Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov informed Putin the plant, dwelling to 4 Soviet-era nuclear reactors, stays “steady”.
It isn’t the primary time Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations of reckless assaults on nuclear vegetation since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian forces briefly seized the deserted Chornobyl energy plant in northern Ukraine in 2022, a transfer that was criticised as “very, very harmful” by the IAEA on the time.
Russian troops additionally management Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and have accused Ukraine of launching “harmful” drone strikes within the space round Europe’s largest nuclear energy station. Kyiv has denied the allegations as “pretend”.
