International

Ukraine War: Russian Missile Strike Close To Nuclear Plant, Says Ukraine

Ukraine said that a Russian missile landed just 300 metres of a nuclear plant in southern Ukraine. Ukraine denounced the attack as 'nuclear terrorism'.

Russian Missile Attack on Ukraine
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A Russian missile landed close to Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Southern Ukraine and damaged industrial equipment, according to Ukraine.

Ukraine's nuclear power operator Energoatom on Monday said that a Russian missile landed in an industrial complex that includes the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant in the southerm Mykolaiv region. Ukraine denounced the alleged missile strike as "nuclear terrorism". 

Energoatom said the missile struck just 300 metres from the plant, causing an explosion that broke more than 100 windows on buildings in the complex.

The attack also caused a nearby hydropower plant to shut down temporarily, but didn't affect the reactors of the nuclear plant, Energoatom said.

The Russian Defence Ministry had no immediate comment on the attack.

The Pivdennoukrainsk plant, also known as the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, sits along the Southern Bug River and is some 300 kilometres south of the capital Kyiv. It is Ukraine's second-largest nuclear power plant with three reactors.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, has been occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the invasion and repeatedly came under fire that cut off its transmission lines and eventually forced operators to shut it down to avoid a radiation disaster. Russia and Ukraine have traded blame for the shelling.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, which has monitors at the Zaporizhzhia plant, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attack.

(With AP inputs)