Kursk region mayor warns Ukrainian forces approaching key nuclear plant

Having gained a foothold in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region in the past few days, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are now fast approaching the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Kurchatov, the city’s mayor Igor Korpunkov warned on Friday.

Reporting that fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops was taking place “a few dozen kilometres” from the city of Kurchatov, Korpunkov sought to assure residents that all services and business in the city were operating “normally” and urged them not to panic.

“The enemy is not only employing military weapons against us, but also so-called ‘psychological special forces’. Its goal is to sow panic among the population, to create an uncontrollable situation and chaos,” Korpunkov wrote.

Pro-Russian military Telegram channel Military Informant reported that an advanced detachment of the AFU had reached the village of Kromskie Byki, approximately 30 kilometres from the plant. The Kursk Nuclear Power Station is one of the largest atomic power facilities in Russia and supplies electricity to the entire federal district, which includes 18 regions.

According to Military Informant, Kromskie Byki is just 15 kilometres away from the Kursk-Lgov-Rylsk highway, control of which could enable the AFU to advance eastward towards Kurchatov.

On Wednesday, the Russian National Guard announced that additional security forces had been deployed to protect the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant from “sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the AFU in the Kursk and Belgorod regions.”