Ukraine war: Land mines found at nuclear power plant, drones intercepted

Land mines found at nuclear power plant

The UN atomic watchdog says its monitors at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant reported seeing anti-personnel mines around the site as Ukraine's military pursues a counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s entrenched forces after 17 months of war.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said its team observed the mines in a restricted area that is off-limits to the plant's Ukrainian staff.

The agency did not directly attribute the placement of the mines to the Russians but said its experts were told “it is a military decision, and in an area controlled by military.”

“Having such explosives on the site is inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards and nuclear security guidance and creates additional psychological pressure on plant staff,” Rafael Mariano Grossi, the agency's director general, said in a statement late Monday.

However, any detonation of the mines, which were facing away from the plant and located between its internal and external perimeter barriers, “should not affect the site’s nuclear safety and security systems,” the statement said.

Ukrainian authorities said on Tuesday that air defences intercepted Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia fired at Kyiv overnight, in what was the sixth drone attack on the capital this month. 

No casualties or damage were reported, according to Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv regional military administration head.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry said a Russian patrol ship destroyed two Ukrainian sea drones that attacked it in the Black Sea early on Tuesday. 

It said the crew of the Sergey Kotov patrol ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet wasn’t hurt in the attack 370 kilometres southwest of the Crimean port of