Russian Nuclear Plant in ‘Danger’ of Incident Amid Ukraine War: UN Official

A Russian nuclear power plant is currently in “danger” of a nuclear incident amid ongoing fighting with Ukraine, an official with the United Nations said this week.

On Tuesday, the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi visited a nuclear power plant in the Kursk region in Russia and said that “there is now a danger of a nuclear incident here.”

“Today I was told about several cases of drone attacks on the territory, on the plant’s facilities. At the plant, I saw traces of these attacks,” he said.

Grossi made similar comments in a post on X, formerly Twitter, where he wrote that the “situation” at the Kursk facility “is serious.”

“Preventing a nuclear accident in this terrible war is vital & attacking any NPP [nuclear power plant] is unacceptable, no matter the location,” Grossi wrote. “@IAEAorg will continue to promote nuclear safety and security everywhere.”

Earlier in the month, Ukraine launched a surprise offensive operation in Russia’s Kursk Oblast as war continues to rage between the two nations since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Thousands of Russians have been evacuated from Kursk and the surrounding regions, while armed clashes intensify across southwestern Russia following Ukraine’s unexpected cross-border raid.

On Tuesday, Russia launched an air attack against Ukraine in which it fired dozens of missiles. The attack came a day after a massive overnight assault that Kyiv officials have characterized as one of the largest air attacks in the war.

The head of the Ukrainian army said that Kursk was a source of some of the Russian attacks this week after Ukrainian troops gained almost 1,300 square kilometers of the region. General Oleksandr Syrskyi announced that Ukraine has captured 594 Russian prisoners as part of its current offensive operation, which he said aims to divert Russia’s military from the main battles in Ukraine. His claims about captured Russians have not been independently verified by Newsweek.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed Tuesday that Ukraine has suffered significant losses in Kursk, with around 6,600 troops killed or injured and more than 70 tanks destroyed, along with numerous armored vehicles. Newsweek has not independently verified those figures.

While speaking about the recent barrage of Russian attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated his desire to strike deeper within Russia but said his allies have not approved such action.

“(The allies) try not to speak with me about it. But I keep raising this topic. Generally, that’s it. The Olympics are over, but the ping-pong continues,” he said.

Earlier this month, Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, warned that Ukraine’s offensive operation in Kursk ended “any possibility” of peace talks between the two nations.

“Who will negotiate with them after this, after the atrocities, the terror that they are committing against peaceful residents, the civilian population, civilian infrastructure and peaceful facilities,” Zakharova said.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.