KURCHATOV: UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Grossi on Tuesday warned during a visit to Russia’s Kursk nuclear plant that its proximity to ongoing fighting was “extremely serious” following Ukraine’s unprecedented cross-border offensive.

Grossi said his tour enabled him to “look at the most important parts” of the plant, which is less than 50 kilometres from fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

“A nuclear power plant of this type so close to a point of contact or military front is an extremely serious fact,” Grossi said after visiting the plant. “The fact we have military activity a few kilometres, a few miles away from here, make it an immediate point of attention,” he added.

“At the end of the day, again, this may sound common sense and simple: Don’t attack a nuclear power plant.”

He said he was in “close contact” with Russian authorities and would visit Kyiv next week to talk to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, adding it was “important to talk” and “keep dialogue”. He added the Kursk power plant currently was “operating in a very close to normal conditions”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly warned of the dangers of fighting around nuclear plants following Russia’s full-scale military offensive into Ukraine in February 2022.

In the first days of the conflict, Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, and also briefly held the decommissioned Chernobyl plant in the north.

Drone attacks

Russia fired a wave of attack drones and missiles at Ukraine that killed at least five people, authorities said on Tuesday, after a second night of heavy strikes across the war-battered nation.

Within hours of the barrage, Ukraine claimed new advances in its surprise assault on Russia’s Kursk border region and reported taking nearly 600 Russian troops as prisoners in the past three weeks.

“Crimes against humanity cannot be committed with impunity,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media, saying that four people had been killed and 16 wounded on Tuesday. One woman later died in hospital, authorities said.

An eyewitness in the capital Kyiv heard air raid sirens echo over the city throughout the night as well as an explosion, likely from air defence systems.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2024