Russia accused the West of sponsoring “nuclear terrorism” on Friday after authorities said a Ukrainian drone struck the western Russian city of Kurchatov, home to a Chernobyl-like nuclear power plant, News.ro reported, citing Reuters.

Roman Starovoit, the governor of Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, said a Ukrainian drone blast damaged an apartment building in Kurchatov, a Soviet town built on the shores of a cooling lake for the still-defunct Kursk nuclear power plant. in the function.

“A drone fell in the city of Kurchatov at night,” Starovoit reported in Telegram. “Fortunately, none of the locals were injured. As a result of the fall of the drone and subsequent detonation, critical objects were not damaged,” the governor said. He added that only the facade and windows of the apartment building were damaged, noting that the authorities would help residents repair their homes.

There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine, which itself regularly comes under massive Russian drone strikes, but rarely comments on its own alleged drone strikes and sabotage inside Russia.

“Do they plan to go to Mars if there is a nuclear disaster?”

The Kurchatov incident, which came after Russia said it had shot down two Ukrainian drones near the Kremlin in May, prompted an angry reaction from Russia’s foreign ministry, given its proximity to a nuclear power plant.

“Do the countries that supply (drones) to the Kyiv regime plan to retreat to Mars in the event of a nuclear disaster? They won’t have time,” spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova said sarcastically. “The peoples of NATO countries must realize that their governments sponsor nuclear terrorism practiced by the Kyiv regime,” Zakharova said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said Russia’s air defense systems were working effectively, commenting on unconfirmed reports on social media that such systems had been used to repel drone attacks, but said it was clear Ukraine was continuing to try to hit targets inside Russia.

The Russians say they have increased security around nuclear facilities

Russia’s FSB security service said last August that security around nuclear facilities had been increased after Ukrainian saboteurs destroyed power lines feeding the Kursk nuclear power plant, temporarily disrupting its operations.

Oleksiy Likhachev, head of Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom, said on state television on Thursday that the safety of the nuclear plant was “under control” and that all necessary measures had been taken, including ensuring air defense capabilities.

Russia and Ukraine have long accused each other of risking a nuclear disaster by bombing another facility, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, located in Russian-controlled territory in southern Ukraine.

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