[ad_1]
Russian missiles struck a facility near a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on Monday, causing no damage to its reactors but damaging other industrial equipment in what the country’s atomic energy operator denounced as an “act of nuclear terrorism.”
Energoatom, which operates Ukraine’s nuclear power plant, said strikes hit an industrial complex earlier on Monday, including the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant in the southern region of Mykolaiv.
Energoatom said the missile hit just 300 meters (yards) from the factory, triggering an explosion that blew out more than 100 windows in the complex’s buildings.
Energoatom said the attack also caused the temporary shutdown of a nearby hydropower plant, but did not affect the plant’s reactor, calling the attack an “act of nuclear terrorism”.
The Russian Defense Ministry had no immediate comment on the attack.
The Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant, also known as the Southern Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, is located along the South Bug River, about 300 kilometers (190 miles) south of the capital, Kyiv. It is the second largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine with three reactors.
The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, has been occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the invasion and has come under repeated artillery fire, cutting its transmission lines, eventually forcing operators to shut it down to avoid a radiation catastrophe. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the shelling.
The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has monitors at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attack.
[ad_2]
Source link