Ukrainian official rejects Putin's accusations of attempted attack on Kursk nuclear plant

A top Ukrainian counter-disinformation official on Aug. 22 refuted Russian President Vladimir Putin's accusations that Kyiv attempted to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.

Speaking at a meeting on the situation in Russia's border region, Putin alleged that Ukraine tried to "strike the nuclear power plant." He did not provide evidence to back up the claim.

This comes as yet another accusation regarding the nuclear plant aimed at Ukraine amid the ongoing incursion in Kursk Oblast.

"Russia's desired scenario of Ukraine's Defense Forces attacking the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant to accuse them of nuclear terrorism fell apart, so Putin joined the propaganda," said Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.

"Everything points to the fact that Russia itself can carry out this provocation and will try to bring it to the international level."

The Kremlin's chief said he hoped that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would send its specialists to assess the situation.

Earlier the same day, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said he would visit the Kursk plant due to safety risks associated with Ukraine's ongoing incursion.

Russia has claimed several times that Ukraine was planning to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, as well as the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, without providing evidence.

"We officially refute these false reports. Ukraine has neither the intention nor the ability to carry out any such actions. Russia must stop spreading dangerous lies," Heorhii Tykhyi, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, said on Aug. 16.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. Kyiv has repeatedly accused Russia of using the plant for nuclear blackmail and endangering its safety.

Kyiv said on Aug. 11 that Russian forces set fire to "a large number of automobile tires in cooling towers" at the nuclear plant in an effort to "create panic in the settlements on the right bank of the former reservoir."

Morning in Sudzha: Inside Ukrainian-occupied Russia as Kursk operation continues

Editor’s note: The Kyiv Independent traveled into Russia’s Kursk Oblast with Ukrainian soldiers during the ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive in the area. Since the trip constitutes an unsanctioned crossing of the state border between Russia and Ukraine, the identities of the author of the rep…

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