Ukraine urges emergency IAEA meeting after Russian strikes on nuclear power substations
Photo: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Russian forces carried out a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine during the night of November 8, targeting substations that supply power to the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants, reports Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
Sybiha said the strikes were deliberate and specifically targeted the substations feeding the Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear plants. He stressed that these were carefully planned attacks, not accidental.
"Russia is deliberately endangering nuclear safety in Europe. We call for an urgent meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors to respond to these unacceptable risks," he said.
Sybiha also said that all countries that genuinely value nuclear safety, including China and India, should pressure the Russian regime to stop attacking Ukraine's nuclear energy infrastructure. He warned that these attacks create the risk of a catastrophic incident and called on the international community to press the Kremlin to end Russia's nuclear blackmail.
Russian attacks and power outages
On the night of November 8, Russian forces again launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine, hitting energy infrastructure and residential areas. The attacks caused widespread power outages across the country.
Earlier, Ukraine's state energy company, PJSC Centrenergo, reported that the attack on its thermal power plants was the largest Russia has carried out against them so far. As a result, all plants have halted operating and are currently not generating electricity.
By the evening of November 8, the situation had been stabilized, but power outages could not yet be fully lifted.
