Ukrainian forces hit a Russian nuclear power plant, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished. Ukrainian President Zelensky claims that it is conducting long-range strikes in Russia without American assistance.
Russian officials claim a Ukrainian drone was downed near the Kursk nuclear power plant (NPP) on Sunday, causing a small fire at the facility. The fire resulted in the NPP reducing the capacity at one of three units to 50%.
The international nuclear watchdog (IAEA) reports that there were no injuries or an increase in radiation levels. “IAEA monitoring confirms normal radiation levels near Kursk NPP; Russia says reactor unit’s power reduced due to auxiliary transformer damage but fire extinguished and no injuries,” the agency wrote on X.
IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi stressed that “every nuclear facility must be protected at all times.” The nuclear power plant is one of the largest in Russia.
The NPP is located in Russia’s Kursk region. Last year, Ukraine seized portions of Kursk, but failed to capture the NPP. Over several months, Russian forces drove Ukrainians out of Kursk, with some assistance from North Korean soldiers.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. Last week, Ukraine attacked a pipeline in Russia that halted petroleum deliveries to Hungary. Budapest criticized Kiev for the attack and threatened to end energy transfers to Ukraine if it continued to target the pipeline.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that the Pentagon ended support for Ukrainian strikes against Russia with American weapons. President Zelensky said Ukraine is now conducting attacks in Russia without US support.
“At the moment, we are using our long-range domestically produced weapons, and we haven’t been discussing such matters with the U.S. lately. There was a time when there were different signals regarding our retaliatory strikes after their (Russian) attacks on our energy system,” he explained.
