Ukraine Dismisses Putin’s Claims of Kursk Nuclear Plant Attack as Russian Propaganda

On August 22, Andrii Kovalenko, Head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, officially denied Vladimir Putin’s accusations that Kyiv attempted to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Kovalenko dismissed the claims as part of a broader Russian propaganda campaign aimed at painting Ukraine as a nuclear threat.

Kovalenko stated, “The Russians’ desired scenario of the Defense Forces assaulting the Kursk NPP, thereby accusing them of nuclear terrorism, has fallen apart. Yet, with no alternative narrative, Putin has now joined in spreading the falsehood of a nuclear terror threat.”

Putin had alleged that the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to attack the Kursk plant at night, a claim Kovalenko labeled as “a pure lie.” He pointed out that these accusations followed failed Russian claims from the previous Friday, August 16, where they falsely asserted that Ukraine was preparing a “nuclear provocation” at both the Kursk and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants.

Kovalenko warned that Russia might be planning its own provocation to bring the issue to the international stage, stressing, “The threat of a nuclear provocation from the Russian Federation is quite real, especially since Putin has personally become involved.”

During a meeting on the situation in Russia’s border regions with Ukraine, Putin alleged that Ukraine tried to “strike the nuclear power plant” but did not provide any evidence to support his claim.

This assertion came on the same day that Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), announced his intention to visit the Kursk plant due to safety concerns stemming from Ukraine’s ongoing military operations.

Grossi, who expressed worries over the plant’s safety due to its technological similarities to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, is expected to visit the Kursk facility next week. Afterward, he plans to travel to Kyiv for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as confirmed by an IAEA spokesperson.

Russia has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that Ukraine was planning to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant as well as the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.

In response, Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, officially refuted these claims on August 16, stating, “We officially refute these false reports. Ukraine has neither the intention nor the ability to carry out any such actions. Russia must stop spreading dangerous lies.”