According to a statement issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency on the 22nd, Russia informed the agency that day that Russia had found the wreckage of a drone near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant. According to the Russian side, the drone was intercepted in the early morning of the 22nd, and the location where the drone fragments were found was about 100 meters away from the nuclear power plant’s spent fuel storage facility. The statement said that in this context, IAEA Director General Grossi planned to visit the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant to assess the situation on site and understand the safety of the nuclear power plant.
The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant is located in Kurchatov, 40 kilometers west of Kursk, the capital of Kursk Oblast, Russia, and about 60 kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border. It was put into operation in 1977 and currently has two units in operation. Since the Kursk Oblast entered a state of emergency on August 7, Russia has built trenches and other defensive fortifications in many places in Kursk Oblast – the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant is one of the key points of the defense line.
The situation at the Kursk nuclear power plant has also touched the nerves of European countries. Costas Isikos, former first deputy minister of the Greek Ministry of Defense and one of the leaders of the Greek People’s Unity Party, said that an attack on the Kursk nuclear power plant could have extremely terrible consequences for Europe. He said: “This could have incalculable consequences for all European countries. Radioactive materials do not distinguish between different countries and peoples. This is a typical lose-lose situation.”