Putin accuses Ukraine of attempting to strike Kursk nuclear plant

Moscow [Russia], August 23 (ANI): Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, accused Ukrainian forces of attempting to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Station during an overnight raid, Al Jazeera reported.

Putin said on Thursday that Moscow had reported the event to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, although he did not offer any supporting documentation for this assertion.

Ukraine has not reacted to the accusations made by Russia.

“The enemy tried to strike the nuclear power plant at night. The IAEA has been informed,” Putin stated in an official televised meeting.

Putin stated this as Ukrainian forces carried on fighting inside Russia for over two weeks following the start of a bold cross-border assault that has caused Moscow much embarrassment.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Thursday that Ukraine’s Kursk incursion is part of an attempt to terminate the war on conditions that are acceptable to Ukraine, even though the invasion’s strategic objectives are still unknown, reported Al Jazeera.

In the northern Sumy region, Zelenskyy added, Ukraine’s soldiers had gained possession of another Russian settlement and captured more prisoners of war, during a visit to the area where his forces had begun their surprise incursion into Russia.

Analysts say that the raids into Russian territories offer a good boost in morale for the Ukranians.

After fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces roughly 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the Kursk nuclear plant, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called for restraint on both sides on August 9.

Four nuclear reactors from the Soviet era are housed at the Kursk plant, which acting governor Alexei Smirnov informed Putin is still “stable.”

Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, charges of careless assaults on nuclear installations have been exchanged between the two countries on multiple occasions, as per the report by Al Jazeera.

In 2022, the IAEA denounced the temporary takeover of the defunct Chornobyl power facility in northern Ukraine by Russian soldiers, labelling the action as “very, very dangerous.”

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is under the hands of the Russian military, who have also accused Ukraine of conducting “dangerous” drone strikes near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The claims have been refuted by Kiev as “fake”.