ISTANBUL 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday claimed Ukraine tried to strike the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant situated in the border region of the same name, where Kyiv launched an incursion over two weeks ago.

“The enemy tried to strike the (Kursk) nuclear power plant last night,” Putin told a meeting in the capital Moscow on the situation in the border regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk.

Expressing that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had been informed of the situation, Putin said the IAEA promised to send specialists to assess the situation at the plant.

During the same meeting, Kursk Governor Alexey Smirnov said the situation at the plant was stable.

Earlier, the Defense Ministry claimed that it intercepted a Ukrainian drone over the Kursk region during an overnight attack.

Ukrainian authorities have yet to comment on either claim.

The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant is located almost 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) from the Ukrainian border.