News / Russia

Russia compares Ukraine to Daesh, says Kiev killing civilians, staging 'nuclear terrorism'

Friday, 23 August 2024 2:41 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 23 August 2024 2:51 PM ]

A view of Kursk Nuclear Power Plant's power-generating units

Russia has likened Ukraine to Daesh, claiming that Kiev has devised numerous terrorist plans similar to those of the Takfiri terrorist group aimed at targeting civilians.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, similar to Daesh, Kiev "has in its arsenal extensive schemes of terrorist activity — from blowing up civilian infrastructure and killing civilians to nuclear terrorism," she told Russia’s Sputnik news agency on Friday.

Zakharova warned that the Zaporozhye and Kursk Nuclear Power Plants in western Russia were “objects of criminal terrorist acts of the Kiev regime." Zaporozhye is Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, while the facility located in Kursk is the third-largest in Russia.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said Kiev had tried to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, denouncing the attempt as an act of "nuclear terrorism."

The ministry said its air defense units had shot down three invading Ukrainian drones overnight in the region.

In separate remarks, Zakharova said the attack required an immediate response from the United Nations nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

On August 6, Ukraine staged an invasion in the Kursk region with around 1,000 forces, prompting the Kremlin to declare a state of emergency there and evacuate 3,000 civilians.

Ukraine justifies Kursk attack in first admission of incursion into Russia

Ukraine has admitted that its forces attacked Russia’s Kursk region, blaming Moscow for Kiev’s incursion into the Russian territory.

Fierce fighting has raged in the region since the Ukrainian invasion, which marked the biggest one to be carried out against Russia since World War II.

Putin's firm response

On Thursday, Russia’s Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov said President Vladimir Putin had formulated a response to the invasion.

"I tell you sincerely that the president has made a decision," Russia’s ITAR-TASS news agency quoted Antonov as saying. "I am firmly convinced that everyone will be severely punished for what has happened in Kursk region," he added.

In February 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine partly to prevent NATO’s eastward expansion after warning that the US-led military alliance was following an “aggressive line” against Moscow.