Ukraine’s raid into Russia could endanger a major nuclear power plant in the border region, the top United Nations nuclear watchdog worries.
“The IAEA has been monitoring the situation on the reported military activities taking place in the vicinity of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant,” said Rafael Grossi, International Atomic Energy Agency‘s director-general, Friday. “At this juncture, I would like to appeal to all sides to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences.”
Ukrainian officials have kept a close hold on information about their operation in Kursk, a foray that caught both United States and Russian officials by surprise. The extent and objective of their operation remains uncertain, but Russian authorities have claimed that “fighting is ongoing a few dozen kilometers” from the city that is home to the Kursk nuclear power plant.
“The situation is tense. The state of emergency is in place,” Kurchatov Mayor Igor Korpunkov wrote on social media. “The enemy is not only employing military weapons against us, but also so-called ‘psychological special forces … Its goal is to sow panic among the population, to create an uncontrollable situation and chaos.”
The uncertain situation has put Grossi in a strangely familiar position, as Russia’s seizure of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, one of the four Ukrainian regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to integrate into Russia, has forced him to coordinate between the warring parties to try to secure the plant. He invoked the “concrete principles” of nuclear plant security developed in that context in his latest intervention.
“These include, among others, the imperative to ensure the physical integrity of a nuclear power plant,” he said. “This is valid irrespective of where an NPP is situated.”
That message came on the heels of another warning with respect to the Ukrainian nuclear plant, which Grossi fears is vulnerable to harm from “the occurrence of intense fires” in the area, as well as the indirect effects of Russia’s bombardment of other Ukrainian power grid infrastructure.
“The vulnerability of the electricity infrastructure across the country remains very concerning,” Grossi said Thursday. “It is essential that the electricity network across all of Ukraine remains stable to help maintain nuclear safety at all nuclear power plants.”
Western officials have suggested that Ukraine launched the raid in order to force Russian commanders to divert troops away from their own offensive in Ukrainian territory.
“Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region is likely to lead to the redeployment of Russian units from other areas to support the defensive actions of Russian Federation units and counterattacks against Ukraine’s forces in the area,” said Janek Kesselmann, Estonian Military Intelligence Center’s deputy commander, Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s team has implied that they see the Kursk attack as a way to amass leverage for negotiations with Russia.
“When will it be possible to conduct a negotiation process in the way that we can push them or get something from them? Only when the war is not going on according to their scenarios,” presidential adviser Myhailo Podolyak said Thursday.
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Zelensky applauded Ukrainian forces for “replenishing the ‘exchange fund’ — by taking the occupiers as captives,” in an apparent reference to reports that scores of Russian service members have been captured.
“I also want to express my special gratitude to our warriors and units who are replenishing the ‘exchange fund’ — by taking the occupiers as captives and thus helping to free our people from Russian captivity,” Zelensky said Friday. “This is extremely important and has been particularly effective over the past three days. We must return freedom to all our people who remain in Russian captivity.”