Editor's note: The latest articles on Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast can be found here.
Russian forces have begun constructing defensive lines near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) as Ukrainian forces advance deeper into Kursk Oblast, the BBC reported on Aug. 11, citing photos analyzed by BBC Verify.
The Ukrainian military launched the surprise incursion across the border on Aug. 6, bringing regular Ukrainian forces into Russia for the first time. Ukraine has continued to advance farther into Kursk Oblast amid ongoing fighting.
Photos appear to show Russian forces digging trenches near the KNPP as Ukrainian troops reportedly advance within 50 kilometers of the nuclear facility, the BBC said.
The KNPP is located nearly 80 kilometers from the Kursk Oblast border town of Sudzha, the focus of Ukraine's initial incursion. The independent Russian news outlet IStories reported on Aug. 9 that Russia is preparing to defend the Kursk plant as Ukrainian troops approach.
In response to Ukraine's offensive, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi called on both Kyiv and Moscow to "exercise maximum restraint" in order to avoid a nuclear accident.
According to Grossi, two of the six nuclear reactors at the KNPP are in shutdown, while another two are fully operational. The remaining two reactors are under construction.
Russian authorities have introduced a "counter-terrorism operation" in the border regions in response to the Ukrainian offensive. While the Russian Defense Ministry has tried to downplay Ukraine's incursion, it also admitted on Aug. 11 that Ukrainian forces had reached the villages Tolpino and Obshchy Kolodez, which are around 25 and 30 kilometers from the border.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 10 that Ukrainian forces have begun "to push the war out into the aggressor's territory," which marked his first public acknowledgement of Ukraine's cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast.
Francis Farrell
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