Head of the IAEA: There is a threat of a “nuclear incident” at the Kursk NPP

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said that there is a risk of a "nuclear incident" at Russiaʼs Kursk nuclear power plant.

Grossi said this during a press conference after a visit to the Kursk NPP, Reuters reports.

Rafael Grossi said that now the nuclear plant is operating under close to normal conditions, but the threat to its safety remains — the Kursk NPP does not have a protective dome.

Russia claims that the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which are located 25 kilometers from the Kursk NPP after an offensive operation in this region, repeatedly attacked it. Ukraine does not confirm or deny this information.

"The safety of all nuclear power plants is a central and fundamental issue for the IAEA," Grossi said the day before.

Russian journalists were also present at the IAEA Director Generalʼs press conference. They convey that after inspecting the Kursk NPP, Rafel Grossi will go to Kyiv to talk with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

Kursk operation

For the first time, it became known about the offensive of the Defense Forces in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation on August 6 — then Russian telegram channels and "military corps" wrote about it.

For the first time , Ukraine officially confirmed the operation only on August 12. As of August 27 , 1,294 km² and 100 settlements of this region are under the control of Ukraine, and 594 occupiers were captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

For self-defense , the Ukrainian military formed a buffer zone on the territory of the Kursk region.

On August 15 , Ukraine created the first military command post in the Kursk region.