Russian missile hits town near Ukraine’s 2nd largest nuclear power plant, injuring 12, Ukrainian officials say

A Russian missile hit a residential area in a southern Ukrainian town on Saturday, not far from a nuclear power plant, injuring 12 civilians and heightening fears of a nuclear accident during months of war, officials said. Ukrainians.

Vitaliy Kim, governor of the Mykolaiv region, said on the Telegram messaging app that four children were among those injured in an apparent attack that damaged several private homes and an apartment building in Voznesensk.

The city is about 30 kilometers from the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant (PNPP), the second largest in Ukraine.

The Mykolaiv region prosecutor general’s office, updating an earlier toll, put the casualty toll at 12.

State-owned Energoatom, which runs Ukraine’s four nuclear power generators, described the alleged attack on Voznesensk as « another act of Russian nuclear terrorism ».

Repeated Airstrike Alerts

Airstrike alerts sounded repeatedly in the Mykolaiv region on Saturday.

« It is possible that this missile was specifically aimed at the Pivdennukrainsk nuclear power plant, which the Russian military tried to take over in early March, » Energoatom said in a statement.

Russia did not immediately respond to the accusation. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the situation in Voznesensk. No damage was reported at the Pivdennoukrainsk plant.

Ukrainian authorities have called on the United Nations and other international organizations to force Russian forces out of another nuclear power plant, which has been occupied shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

The town of Enerhodar, home to the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest, has come under repeated bombardment, with Moscow and Kyiv responsible for the attacks.