Ukrainian Drone Incident Triggers Blaze at Kursk Nuclear Facility, No Radiation Threat Detected

A fire erupted on Sunday at a nuclear power plant in Russia following the military’s interception of a Ukrainian drone, the facility reported after extinguishing the flames.

The “device exploded” on impact at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant located in western Russia, igniting a fire that was subsequently put out by firefighting teams.

Fortunately, there were no injuries reported from the incident, although operations at the site were affected.

The plant stated on Telegram that “the radiation levels at the Kursk NPP industrial site and its vicinity remain unchanged and are within safe, natural limits.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency has consistently issued warnings regarding the risks associated with military actions near nuclear facilities since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Situated close to the Russia-Ukraine border, the plant lies to the west of Kursk, the regional capital with around 440,000 residents.

Russian officials announced that Ukrainian drones were also intercepted over areas sometimes far from the conflict zone, such as St. Petersburg in the northwest.

Ten drones were shot down over the Ust-Luga port on the Gulf of Finland, resulting in a fire at a fuel terminal owned by the Russian energy company Novatek, as reported by regional governor Alexander Drozdenko on Telegram.

Ukraine’s relatively smaller and less equipped military has heavily depended on drones as a response to Russia’s invasion, specifically targeting oil facilities to undermine a significant source of funding for Moscow’s military efforts.

As a result of these attacks, Russia has experienced a dramatic increase in fuel prices.

In contrast, Ukraine claimed that Russia launched an overnight attack involving a ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones, with its air force successfully downing 48 of them.

A drone strike by Russian forces reportedly resulted in the death of a 47-year-old woman in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, according to the local governor.