Ukraine denies Russian claims about attempted attack on Kursk nuclear plant

The head of the counter-disinformation center at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council denied claims from the Russian media about an attempted Ukrainian attack against the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant on Oct. 3.
“Russia released false information about a HIMARS strike against the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant,” Andrii Kovalenko said on his Telegram channel.
Moscow has repeatedly accused Kyiv of attacking or planning to attack the plant since the start of the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast in early August, which was flatly denied by Ukraine.
The plant lies roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Ukrainian-held positions in Kursk Oblast, according to the DeepState monitoring site.
Earlier on Oct. 3, Russian Telegram Shot and Mash claimed that explosions rocked the nearby town of Kurchatov amid a supposed attempted Ukrainian attack on the Kursk plant.
The channels did not specify whether HIMARS rockets were used in the attack. Mash claimed that four missiles and a single drone were deployed, all of which were intercepted.
The drone, alleged to be Ukraine’s new Palianytsia model, was flying toward Kurchatov at 11:30 a.m. local time, Mash wrote. Later during the day, at 4:20 p.m., Russian air defenses were used to intercept a “French aerial bomb” that fell 5 kilometers from the power station, the channel alleged.
Shot wrote that Ukrainian forces made “four unsuccessful attempts” to strike the plant, causing a fire some 5 kilometers from the plant. Both channels shared footage of smoke rising over what appears to be Kurchatov.
Kursk Oblast Governor Alexei Smirnov claimed that a Ukrainian drone was neutralized by electronic warfare means near Kurchatov. Its fall allegedly caused explosions at an outbuilding not related to the nuclear plant.
The power station’s management said on Telegram that it is “operating in normal mode” and that the radiation levels are within norms.
“Obviously, nobody attacked the nuclear plant, there is no point. Russia showed some kind of fire in Kurchatov and a video of an explosion on the ground,” Kovalenko said.
“What is the purpose of attacking the nuclear power plan?… It (the explosions) have nothing to do with an attack against the Kursk plant.”
The Ukrainian outlet Suspilne also wrote that its sources in Ukraine’s intelligence services refuted the claims about the strike on the plant.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify all the claims. Ukrainian intelligence services did not respond to a request for comment at the time of the publication.
The Kremlin previously accused Kyiv of attacking the plant in late August and invited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect security at the station. Moscow was apparently disappointed with the conclusions of the IAEA mission, saying it was hoping for “a more objective and clearer position.”
Russia has been occupying Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant since March 2022. Kyiv said Moscow has been consistently endangering the plant’s safety and using it as a tool of nuclear blackmail.