IAEA chief warns of nuke risk from attacks
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi arrived in Kyiv yesterday and inspected an electricity distribution substation, warning that attacks on Ukraine's power grid could pose a risk of nuclear accident by disrupting supply.
"I'm at Kyivska electrical substation — an important part of Ukraine's power grid essential for nuclear safety," Grossi wrote on X. "A nuclear accident can result from a direct attack on a plant, but also from power supply disruption."
Grossi posted pictures of him visiting the substation alongside Energy Minister German Galushchenko, and being showed what appeared to be defences against Russian strikes.
Moscow has regularly bombarded Ukraine's energy infrastructure throughout its three-year invasion.
Moscow has regularly bombarded Ukraine's energy infrastructure, including substations, throughout its three-year invasion, although it has avoided direct strikes on Ukraine's nuclear plants.
Meanwhile, a Russian missile fired yesterday on the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum killed four people and wounded 20, the governor of the broader Kharkiv region said on social media.
Izyum, which had a population of around 45,000 people before the Russian invasion launched in February 2022, was occupied for several months at the beginning of the war before being retaken by Ukraine.
But Russian forces are making gains in the region and undoing the advances Kyiv's army made in their 2022 counteroffensive, while stepping up bombardments here.
"According to initial reports, the occupiers used a ballistic missile. Four people were killed," Oleg Synegubov wrote on Telegram, adding that five people had been hospitalised.
Meanwhile, Ukraine received a surge in queries last month from Russian families seeking information on missing relatives serving in Moscow's army, Kyiv said yesterday.
Ukraine last year established a hotline for Russians to learn details of missing relatives and friends as part of efforts to streamline prison exchanges.
The hotline called "I want to find" is run by the Coordination Centre for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which said it had received 8,548 requests last month.
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