Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of launching drone strikes on the Kursk nuclear power plant near the border, causing a fire and damaging an auxiliary transformer. The alleged attack coincided with Ukraine’s Independence Day celebrations.
According to the plant’s management, the fire was swiftly extinguished and no casualties were reported. Officials said the attack forced a 50 percent reduction in power output from Reactor No. 3. The other two reactors are operational but not generating electricity, while a fourth unit is undergoing scheduled maintenance.
Aleksandr Khinshtein, governor of the Kursk region, condemned the attack as “a threat to nuclear safety and a violation of all international conventions.” The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that radiation levels near the site remained normal.
Meanwhile, in Russia’s Leningrad region, a fire broke out at the Ust-Luga port after roughly 10 Ukrainian drones were intercepted. Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported that it had intercepted a total of 95 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine claimed that during the same timeframe, Russia launched 72 drones, decoys, and a cruise missile, of which 48 were destroyed or neutralized.
These incidents unfolded as Ukraine marked its 34th Independence Day. In a video address from Kyiv’s Independence Square, President Volodymyr Zelensky declared, “We are building a Ukraine strong enough to live in peace and security,” and emphasized the need for a “just peace.”
On the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Zelensky of “obsessively insisting” on a meeting with Vladimir Putin, while blaming Western nations for obstructing peace talks. Lavrov noted that no summit between the two leaders was planned.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces claimed to have captured two villages in the Donetsk region. Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Kyiv, and Norway pledged a new $700 million military aid package focused on air defense systems for Ukraine.
