News - World: Moscow says Kiev is planning to attack a major nuclear power plant in the Russian border region of Kursk, warning that in the event of such an invasion, a large surrounding area would be contaminated.

On Saturday, Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement that Ukraine was planning to attack the Kursk nuclear power plant and blame such a “provocation” on Moscow, Interfax news agency reported.

The ministry warned that Russian forces would respond harshly in the event of such an attack which he said would contaminate a large surrounding area.

The defense ministry said in a separate statement on Saturday that Russian forces had repelled Ukrainian forces “in the direction of the settlements of Korenevo, Russkoye and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye,” in the Kursk region.

On Friday, Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), urged both sides to use "maximum restraint" to "avoid a nuclear accident.”

He said the IAEA has been monitoring reports of fighting near the nuclear plant.

The Kursk atomic power station — one the three biggest nuclear power plants in Russia — has six units of reactors. Two units are shut down, two are under construction and two are fully operational.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, however, said Saturday in a message on X that his forces were "strengthening" their positions in Kursk region.

Ukraine bombed road near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Russia also said that a Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive charge on a road outside the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Saturday.

The attack has endangered the staff of the nuclear power plant, who use the road, Russia’s TASS news agency reported.

Russia has been in control of the Zaporizhzhia plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, since late February 2022, soon after Moscow launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Source: Press TV