Russian missile wounds 9 not far from nuclear plant: Kyiv

KYIV • A Russian missile hit a residential area of a southern Ukrainian town not far from a nuclear power station yesterday, wounding nine civilians and heightening fears of a nuclear accident, Ukrainian officials said.

Mr Vitaliy Kim, the governor of the Mykolaiv region, said on the Telegram messaging app that four children were among the nine people wounded in an attack that damaged several private houses and a five-storey apartment building in Voznesensk.

The town is about 30km from the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant, the second largest in Ukraine.

State-run Energoatom, which manages all four Ukrainian nuclear energy generators, described the attack on Voznesensk as "another act of Russian nuclear terrorism".

Air strike alerts sounded several times in the Mykolaiv region yesterday.

"It is possible that this missile was aimed specifically at the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant, which the Russian military tried to seize back at the beginning of March," Energoatom said in a statement.

The Ukrainian authorities have called on the United Nations and other international organisations to force Russian forces to leave another nuclear power station, which has been occupied since soon after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24.

The town of Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhzhia plant - Europe's largest - is located, has come under repeated shelling, with Moscow and Kyiv trading blame for the attacks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have called for independent inspections at the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, the Kremlin said on Friday. It said that Mr Putin "stressed that the systematic shelling by the Ukrainian military of the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant creates the danger of a large-scale catastrophe that could lead to radiation contamination of vast territories".

According to the Kremlin, both leaders called for experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect the plant "as soon as possible" and "assess the real situation on the ground".

"The Russian side confirmed its readiness to provide the agency inspectors with the necessary assistance," the statement said.

In a separate statement, the French presidency said that Mr Macron "supported the dispatch of a mission of experts from the IAEA to the site under conditions agreed by Ukraine and the United Nations".

It later specified that Mr Putin had dropped his demand that the IAEA team travel to the site via Russia, saying it could arrive via Ukraine "in respect of Ukrainian sovereignty".

Mr Putin and Mr Macron will speak again "in the coming days on this subject after talks between the technical teams and before the deployment of the mission," the Elysee said.

The Zaporizhzhia plant was targeted by several strikes in recent days, increasing fears of a nuclear disaster.

Meanwhile, a drone was shot down over the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea yesterday, a local official said.

"The drone was shot down just above the fleet headquarters" in the city of Sevastopol, city governor Mikhail Razvojaev wrote on Telegram, blaming the attempted drone attack on Ukrainian forces.

"It fell on the roof and caught fire," he said, adding that there was no major damage or victims.

Russia on Friday also reported fresh Ukrainian drone attacks, a day after explosions erupted near military bases in Russian-held areas of Ukraine and Russia itself, apparent displays of Kyiv's growing ability to pummel Moscow's assets far from the front line.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE