(CNN) — Russia launched a cruise missile at a “critically low” height over Ukraine’s southern nuclear power plant on Sunday, Ukraine’s state nuclear power station operator Energoatom said.
“Russia continues to threaten the nuclear safety of nuclear power plants in Ukraine and threatens the world with a new nuclear catastrophe,” the operator said in a statement.
The nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine is seen in this file image from 2015. Credit: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images
“Russia committed another act of nuclear terrorism: at 5:30 am, a Russian cruise missile, similar to the ‘Caliber’ missile, flew critically low over the nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine,” Energoatom said.
“This missile was probably fired in the direction of Kyiv, where explosions were heard this morning.”
Energoatom said Russian forces “do not yet understand that even the smallest fragment of a missile that can hit a working power unit can cause a nuclear catastrophe and radiation leak.”