2024-08-18 03:30:44
Russia has accused Ukraine of trying to attack the Kursk nuclear power plant and blamed Moscow for this “provocation”, Reuters reported.
Kiev denied having such intentions and called the statement by the Russian authorities “false propaganda”.
Ukraine launched an offensive in western Russia’s Kursk region on August 6 and is trying to change the dynamics of the two-and-a-half-year-old war in its favor, Reuters commented.
Russia’s defense ministry said it would respond harshly to any attack on the Kursk nuclear power plant, which remains under Russian control.
“We are seeing another wave of false Russian propaganda about alleged Ukrainian plans to use “dirty bombs” or to attack nuclear power plants. We officially reject these claims,” wrote a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on the X social network. “Ukraine has neither the intention nor the ability to take any such actions,” added the spokesperson of the diplomatic department.
Russia’s state-run nuclear power company Rosatom, which also operates the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Ukraine, also accused Kiev of threatening the security of the two plants, RIA Novosti reported, without providing any evidence.
Meanwhile, the head of “Rosatom” Alexey Likhachev discussed the situation by phone with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi and invited him to visit the plant in Kursk, writes BTA.
Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of trying to sabotage the operation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, which is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. All six reactors are currently shut down, but the plant needs external power to maintain the cooling system.