Russian officials said several power and energy facilities were targeted in overnight Drone strikes by Ukraine.
A fire at the Kursk nuclear facility was quickly extinguished with no injuries reported, according to the plant’s press service on Telegram. While the attack damaged a transformer, radiation levels remained within normal ranges.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said it was aware of media reports that a transformer at the plants had caught fire “due to military activity,” but hadn’t received independent confirmation. It said its director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said that “every nuclear facility must be protected at all times.”
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the attack.
Firefighters also responded to a blaze at the port of Ust-Luga in Russia’s Leningrad region, home to a major fuel export terminal. The regional governor said approximately 10 Ukrainian drones were shot down, with debris igniting the fire.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted 95 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight into Sunday.
Russia fired 72 drones and decoys, along with a cruise missile, into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, Ukraine’s air force said. Of these, 48 drones were shot down or jammed.
The incidents occurred as Ukraine marked independence day, commemorating its 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered remarks in a video address from Kyiv’s Independence Square, emphasizing the nation’s resolve.
“We are building a Ukraine that will have enough strength and power to live in security and peace,” Zelenskyy said, calling for a “just peace.”
“What our future will be is up to us alone,” he said, in a nod to the U.S.–Russia summit in Alaska earlier in August, which many feared would leave Ukrainian and European interests sidelined.
