On Friday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, amid reports of military operations in Kursk region taking place near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), called on all parties to show maximum restraint in order to avoid a nuclear accident fraught with serious radiation consequences.

I am personally in contact with the relevant authorities of both countries and will continue to be seized of the matter,” Grossi said in a statement released by the IAEA on Friday.

Gross added that the agreed safety principles for the Zaporizhia NPP should apply to all nuclear facilities located in the conflict zone.

“These include, among others, the imperative to ensure the physical integrity of a nuclear power plant. This is valid irrespective of where an NPP is situated,” the head of the IAEA said.

Since August 6, fighting has been reported in Sudzha district of Kursk region of the Russian Federation on the border with Ukraine and the advance of the Ukrainian side deep into Russian territory.