Moscow, Aug 22 (IANS): Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that Ukrainian forces had attempted to strike the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, during their ongoing incursion into the Kursk Region.

"Last night, the enemy attempted to strike the atomic power plant," Putin said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon, RT reported.

"The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been informed. They promised to come themselves and send specialists to assess the situation. I hope they actually do so," he added.

Thousands of troops entered the Kursk Region earlier this month, attempting to reach the town of Kurchatov, where the nuclear facility is located. Moscow has declared the incursion an act of terrorism and has deployed additional troops to repel the invaders.

The IAEA already has observers working at the Zaporozhye NPP, Europe’s largest such facility. The mission was deployed in the summer of 2023, as Ukrainian troops attempted to seize the plant. Earlier this month, a Ukrainian drone attack set one of the cooling towers at the plant on fire, as per Russian.

Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev has discussed the situation at both power plants with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, and invited him to visit Kursk to personally assess the situation, according to Russian media.

As per reports, Grossi has accepted the invitation and is planning to visit Kursk next week. Afterwards, he will go to Ukraine to speak to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.

According to Grossi, the IAEA is very concerned about any combat operations near the Kursk NPP, since it operates the same kind of reactors as the accident-struck Chernobyl NPP with the core "pretty exposed".

The presence of troops within artillery range “is a source of enormous concern to me and the agency,” he added, without specifying which forces he meant.

Moscow has repeatedly criticized the international agency for never identifying the perpetrator of the attacks on nuclear facilities, claiming the IAEA staff knows perfectly well that Ukraine is to blame.