Rafael Grossi, the chief of the UN nuclear inspector, will visit Russia’s Kursk nuclear plant on Tuesday to “independently assess” the events that followed the historic cross-border invasion by Ukraine into the Russian area.
The risks associated with fighting near nuclear reactors have been highlighted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on multiple occasions since Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian forces took control of the nuclear power facility Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine during the early stages of the conflict. They also momentarily grabbed control of the decommissioned Chernobyl reactor in the north.
On August 6, Ukraine unexpectedly began its offensive into Kursk. Even as Russian forces continue to march into eastern Ukraine, it has declared that it is making progress.
Less than 50 kilometers (30 miles) from where Russian and Ukrainian forces are engaged in combat, the Kursk nuclear power plant is the target of an alleged attack by Ukraine, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
The IAEA affirmed that it had received information from Russian authorities regarding the discovery of drone fragments last Thursday, approximately 100 meters away from the nuclear storage facility for spent fuel at the Kursk plant.
