Ukrainian Drone Attacks Russian Town Housing Major Nuclear Power Station, No Damage So Far

A Ukrainian drone struck a town in western Russia that is home to one of the country’s largest nuclear power plants, yet no damage was reported to the plant, according to Russian officials, news agency Reuters reported. Governor Roman Starovoit claimed early Friday that a Ukrainian drone had damaged the exterior of a building in Kurchatov, just a few miles from the Kursk nuclear power plant. He had previously stated that there were two drones, but then amended his statements.

“There are no casualties,” Starovoit was quoted by Reuters in its report. 

Starovoit made no mention of the Kursk nuclear power plant being damaged.

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The Kursk nuclear power facility, built in the Soviet era, uses the same graphite-moderated reactors as Chernobyl.

The 1986 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power facility in then-Soviet Ukraine was the world’s worst nuclear disaster, spreading radiation across Europe.

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According to Russia’s national nuclear enterprise, three RBMK-1000 reactors in Kursk are now functioning, with one shut down.

Russia and Ukraine have previously accused each other of preparing an assault on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. In the days following the Kremlin’s order to invade Ukraine in February 2022, Russian soldiers captured the station, Europe’s largest nuclear complex with six reactors.

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According to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, another drone was shot down as it approached Moscow on Friday morning. Flights to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport were temporarily halted as a result.

According to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, another drone was shot down in the western Russian district of Belgorod.

According to a local online news report, flights at Moscow’s three main airports – Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo – were cancelled and rescheduled early Friday morning owing to reports of an unidentified object flying in the capital’s airspace, Al Jazeera reported.

Following the relaxation of limitations related to an attempted drone assault, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported that Vnukovo airport reopened at 7:28 a.m. local time (04:28 GMT).