Russia demands ‘clearer position’ from UN nuclear watchdog on situation at Kursk nuclear plant

The Russian government seeks “a more objective and clearer position” from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the situation at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti reported on Aug. 28.
A day prior, Rafael Grossi, the director of the IAEA, visited the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant following allegations from Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials that Ukraine has tried – or intends to try – to attack the plant amid the ongoing Ukrainian incursion in the area.
Kyiv has denied the allegations.
After the visit, Grossi warned about the risks associated with the facility amid Ukraine’s ongoing incursion into Kursk Oblast, but said the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant was “operating in very close to normal conditions.”
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, in an interview with Radio Sputnik, criticized the IAEA’s statement, saying that the agency must speak out more clearly on nuclear security issues.
“We see both the assessments and the work of this structure (the IAEA), but each time, we want a more objective and clearer expression of the position of this structure,” Zakharova said.
“Not in favor of our country, not in favor of confirming Moscow’s position, but in favor of facts with one specific goal: ensuring safety and preventing the development of a scenario along a catastrophic path, to which the Kyiv regime is pushing everyone,” she claimed.
The fault of the Ukrainian side in escalating nuclear danger at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant is more than obvious, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed on the same day, according to RIA Novosti.
On Aug. 28, Russia’s National Guard also claimed on Telegram that its sappers had found a shell from a U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple launch rocket system 5 km (3 miles) from the plant, as well as a rocket fragment which it said was stuffed with 180 unexploded munitions.
A video published by Russia’s National Guard showed alleged fragments of the rocket, which two soldiers claimed had been shot down by Russian air defenses and had partially exploded in the air.
Ukraine earlier refuted Russian Putin’s accusations that Kyiv had attempted to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.
“Russia’s desired scenario of Ukraine’s Defense Forces attacking the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant to accuse them of nuclear terrorism fell apart, so Putin joined the propaganda,” said Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.