Russia issues nuclear warning amid Ukraine invasion of Kursk

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Saturday accused Ukrainian forces of preparing to attack a Russian nuclear facility in the Kursk region, according to TASS, a state-run Russian news agency.

Since the surprise attack on Aug. 6, Ukrainian forces have pushed into Russia’s Kursk region over the past two weeks, and then into the neighboring Belgorod region. The push represents the largest assault on Russian territory since World War II, involving an estimated 10,000 Ukrainian troops equipped with armor and artillery, according to military analysts.

A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman had earlier made it clear that Kiev had no intention of occupying the Russian territories it had seized. He added that the goal was to prevent Moscow from launching missile attacks on Ukraine from Kursk.

“According to the information received, the Kiev regime has begun preparing an attack on the Kursk nuclear power plant,” Zakharova said. The Kursk nuclear power plant, located about 25 miles west of the city, is a major producer of electricity in Russia.

But it did not provide what the information provided indicated.

“We call on international organizations – especially the United Nations and the Security Council – to take immediate and urgent action.” [International Atomic Energy Agency] “The IAEA must immediately condemn the provocative actions that the Kiev regime has begun to prepare, and prevent the violation of the nuclear and physical security of the Kursk NPP, which could lead to a large-scale man-made catastrophe in Europe,” Zakharova added.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, which entered into force in 1957, is the United Nations’ international centre for nuclear cooperation.

Newsweek The agency reached out to the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministries for comment via email on Saturday. It also reached out to the IAEA for comment via email on Saturday.

“The entire international community must realize the danger that the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev poses to the entire European continent,” Zakharova said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly and without evidence described the Ukrainian government, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, as a “neo-Nazi regime,” using the baseless claim to justify Russia’s invasion of the Eastern European country in February 2022.

The United States and the European Union have provided diplomatic and military support to Ukraine in its more than two-and-a-half-year war with Moscow.

The International Atomic Energy Agency on Saturday issued a press release on the “deteriorating” nuclear safety situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant after a drone struck a nearby road. The nuclear plant — Europe’s largest — has been under Russian control since early March 2022, just days after Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It was one of the first sites to be seized by Russian forces.

A fire broke out at the station last Sunday, and Russia and Ukraine accused each other of starting the blaze.

“I remain deeply concerned and reiterate my call for maximum restraint from all parties and strict adherence to the five concrete principles that have been established to protect the plant,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Saturday. “Nuclear power plants are designed to withstand technical or human failures and external events, including extreme events, but they are not built to withstand a direct military attack, nor should they be, just as any other power facility in the world is,” Grossi added.

“This latest attack highlights the vulnerability of such facilities in conflict zones and the need to continue monitoring the fragile situation,” he added.