Russian forces repel a Ukrainian incursion to the Kursk Region amid fears of nuclear threats
MOSCOW – Russian units have been repelling a Ukrainian mobile armed group from penetrating into Ivashkovskoye, Malaya Loknya, and Olgovka in the Kursk Region, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
It is noteworthy that the attack jeopardised a region that contains a nuclear power plant and thus threatened a potential nuclear accident.
Accordingly, Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom has discussed the situation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following Ukraine’s incursion into the region, the RIA state news agency reported on Saturday.
In a phone call with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, Alexei Likhachev of Rosatom said the Ukrainian attack had “created a direct threat not only to the Kursk nuclear power plant but to the entire international nuclear energy industry.”
On his side, Grossi called on all parties to “exercise maximum restraint” to avoid the radiological ramifications of a nuclear accident.
“I am personally in contact with the relevant authorities of both countries and will continue to be seized of the matter. I will continue updating the international community as appropriate,” he said in a statement on the agency’s website.
Rosatom has lately announced that Kursk NPP is operating normally and decided to reduce the number of workers at a construction site for a new nuclear plant in the same region in line with the emergency state.
