In a message on X, the official stated that “given the seriousness of the situation, tomorrow I will personally lead the IAEA mission to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in the Russian Federation.”

As acknowledged by the IAEA, there is a growing military activity near the plant, located in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an offensive in early August.

The safety and security of nuclear facilities must not be compromised under any circumstances, the multilateral institution said, and it called on the conflicting parties to avoid hostilities in the vicinity of the nuclear power plants.

According to Grossi, the IAEA intends to assess independently the situation in Kursk.

On August 17, the official and the General Director of the Russian nuclear energy Rosatom corporation Alexei Likhachov talked over the phone about latent risks around the Kursk and Zaporozhie plants for similar reasons.

Fragments of intercepted Ukrainian missiles were found on the territory of the Kursk plant, particularly in the area of radioactive waste, on August 8, according to information sent to the IAEA.

A report by the Russian security forces revealed that the Ukrainian Army plans to use projectiles with radioactive warheads to attack the Kursk and Zaporozhie nuclear power plants.

In recent statements on the issue, UN spokesperson Stephan Dujarric noted that “everyone should be concerned about having two nuclear power plants in the middle of a war zone.”

ied/omr/arc/mjm