According to reports, districts in Russia’s Kursk region, which have been invaded by Ukrainian forces, are without electricity following a fire at an electrical substation. Video footage of the aftermath of the fire circulated online on social media.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian troops entered the Russian region and reportedly captured several settlements in a surprise operation; Kiev has remained silent about this.
“An electrical substation was attacked in the Oktyabrsky district of the Kursk region,” reported the Eastern European news channel NEXTA on X, formerly Twitter. next to footage of the spot where smoke was rising into the sky. As of Saturday, the clip had been viewed over 104,000 times. Newsweek has asked the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries for comment.
A substation was attacked in the Oktyabrsky district of the Kursk region
“There is no light in Kurchatov and five other districts of the region due to a fire at a substation,” said Deputy Governor Smirnov. pic.twitter.com/c7U35Z6MgI
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) 9 August 2024
Alexei Smirnov, acting governor of the region, said a fire at a substation caused by drone debris had cut off electricity to five districts as well as Kurchatov, where the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KNNP) is located.
Smirnov regularly publishes missile warnings on his Telegram channel and calls on citizens to prepare to seek shelter.
GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/Getty Images
Fighting has reportedly continued around the nuclear power plant, prompting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi to call on both sides to exercise “maximum restraint.”
Grossi said two of the plant’s six nuclear reactors were shut down, while two others were fully operational. He added that a nuclear accident at the site had “the potential for serious radiological consequences.”
The independent Russian news portal IStories reported on Friday that Russia was preparing to defend the power plant. The entrances had been blocked and some of the security personnel had been withdrawn.
The speed of the Ukrainian invasion has surprised Russia and Kiev’s allies. Germany, however, has provided moderate support for the invasion. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the principle of self-defense for Ukraine “is not limited to its own territory.”
According to reports, Ukrainian forces have entered the Kursk region and now control 430 to 540 square kilometers in some areas. They are attacking from several directions, according to the X Account Ukraine Battle Map, which regularly publishes updates on the status of the front line.
Russia has announced an anti-terrorist operation in Kursk and the Bryansk and Belgorod regions.
One video shows soldiers holding a Ukrainian and a Georgian flag and claiming they have captured a village in the Belgorod region, just across the border. “The 252nd battalion is in the Poroz settlement in the Belgorod region,” one of the soldiers says.
