Ukraine Calls Strikes 'Nuclear Terrorism'; IAEA Confirms

Ukraine accused Russia of carrying out targeted strikes on power substations that supply external electricity to its nuclear plants, denouncing the attacks as “nuclear terrorism,” and the IAEA confirmed military activity damaged substations critical to nuclear safety. The IAEA reported incidents near the South Ukraine and Khmelnitskyi plants that cut external power and said Rivne was forced to reduce output at two reactors, while teams work to reconnect lines to Zaporizhzhia; the agency did not assign responsibility for the damage. G7 energy ministers condemned the strikes as inflicting devastating social, environmental and economic consequences and pledged financial, technical and policy support to help restore Ukraine’s energy system. Ukrainian leaders and the UN warned the strikes threaten civilian life and could precipitate a major winter crisis, with Kyiv saying Moscow’s objective appears to be to “plunge Ukraine into darkness.” Recent missile and drone attacks have caused outages and civilian casualties, including reported strikes in Zaporizhia and Chernihiv and at least seven people killed in the latest barrage. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi and other international actors urged maximum military restraint near nuclear sites as repairs and reconnection work proceed to prevent a nuclear safety incident.