MOSCOW - Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) accused Ukraine on Monday of storing Western-supplied arms at its nuclear power stations.

It provided no evidence, and Reuters was unable to verify the claims.

In a statement, the SVR said American-supplied Himars rocket launchers, air defence systems and artillery ammunition have been delivered to the Rivne nuclear power station in the north-west of Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian armed forces are storing weapons and ammunition provided by the West on the territory of nuclear power plants,” it said, adding that an arms shipment to the Rivne power station took place in the last week of December.

Ukraine’s many nuclear power stations have been the focus of attention since the start of the conflict. Russian forces seized the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant less than 48 hours after troops invaded, and also captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - the largest in Europe - early in the war.

Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of shelling Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine says Russia is using the site as a de facto weapons depot.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog has expressed grave concerns over attacks near the plant, warning of the risk of a nuclear disaster. REUTERS