A drone has damaged a transformer at the facility, causing a fire, Russian officials have said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is “aware” of reports about a fire at the Kursk nuclear power plant (NPP) in Russia, which it said started due to “military activity.”
Russian officials earlier said that the plant, located about 50km from the border with Ukraine, had been targeted by a drone raid.
Air defense forces overnight reportedly intercepted a Ukrainian UAV which detonated on impact near the Kursk NPP, damaging an auxiliary transformer and triggering a fire, which was later put out.
“Radiation levels at the site and in surrounding areas remained unchanged,” a statement on the NPP’s official Telegram channel read.
While no casualties were reported, the NPP had to decrease the load on one of its three working units by 50%, officials said.
In a post on X on Sunday, the IAEA stopped short of assigning the blame, saying only that it “is aware of media reports that a transformer at the Kursk NPP in Russia has caught fire due to military activity. While the IAEA has no independent confirmation of these reports, [Director General] Rafael Grossi stresses that ‘every nuclear facility must be protected at all times.’”
The Kursk nuclear facility was put at risk due to the conflict with Ukraine, particularly after Kiev’s military invaded the region in force in August 2024. Russian officials declared in April that Ukrainian troops had been expelled from Kursk Region following a months-long counteroffensive.
Russian authorities have claimed that Kiev intended to seize the site, warning that if such plans had succeeded, it could have caused a nuclear accident on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
The Kursk NPP has also come under several Ukrainian strikes in recent months.
Image credit: Vladyslav Cherkasenko
The UK and EU
Who give Kiev and its un elected dictator Zelenski his marching orders
Are very intent and focused on fomenting world war
Economies are crashing and in the dumpster at an accelerating rate
War is the only way out before these people are hauled out strung up and left out to dry
Perfidious Albion.
Now perhaps the world can see how trigger happy and irresponsible are all parties supporting Ukraine, no amount of hiding behind the fake justifications for warmongering from the west can conceal that fact.