On Saturday, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Ukrainian forces of preparing to attack a Russian nuclear facility in the Kursk region, according to Tass, a Russian state-run outlet.
Since a surprise attack on August 6, Ukrainian forces have pressed into the Russian Kursk area over the past two weeks, branching into the neighboring area of Belgorod. The incursion marks the largest assault on Russian soil since World War II, involving an estimated 10,000 Ukrainian troops equipped with armor and artillery, according to military analysts.
A Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson previously clarified that Kyiv does not intend to occupy the Russian territory it has seized. The objective, they said, is to prevent Moscow from launching missile strikes into Ukraine from Kursk.
"According to the incoming information, the Kiev Regime has started the preparation of an attack on the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant," Zakharova said. The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), which lays just around 25 miles west of the city, is a major electricity producer for Russia.
She did not, however, provide what the incoming information indicated.
"We call on the international organizations - in particular, the United Nations and the [International Atomic Energy Agency] IAEA - to immediately state their condemnation of the provocative actions begin prepared by the Kiev regime, and to prevent a violation of nuclear and physical security of the Kursk NPP, which may result in a large-scale man-made disaster in Europe," Zakharova added.
IAEA, which came into force in 1957, is the U.N.'s international center for cooperation in the nuclear field.