The Ukrainian armed forces are reportedly preparing to detonate a dirty nuclear bomb and plan to target storage sites for spent nuclear fuel, reported military correspondent Marat Khairullin, citing sources.

"Sources on the other side report that the ... [the Ukrainian armed forces] are preparing a nuclear provocation — an explosion of a dirty nuclear bomb. They plan to strike at storage sites for spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants. Possibly during another attempt by ... [Ukraine] to enter Rylsk [a town in the Kursk Region] from Hlukhiv. Special warheads for this provocation have already been delivered to the city of Zhovti Vody in the Dnipropetrovsk [also known as Dnipro] region," Khairullin wrote on his channel on Telegram.

The military correspondent added that there is a strong likelihood of strikes on both the Kursk and Zaporozhye nuclear power plants.

On its part, Sputnik cited Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying that the Ukrainian armed forces are planning to use warheads containing radioactive materials to attack these nuclear power plants.

"According to the information received, the enemy may strike the territories of the Kursk and Zaporizhzhya NPPs. The target is the storage sites of spent nuclear fuel. For the strikes, the enemy plans to use charges with warheads filled with radioactive substances. They have already been delivered to the settlement of Zhovti Vody in the Dnipropetrovsk [also known as Dnipro] region of Ukraine," the FSB stated.

Similarly, the military-civil administration of the Kharkov region stated that Ukrainian forces plan to attack nuclear facilities at the Kursk and Zaporozhye nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Kurchatov and Energodar (also known as Enerhodar).

"According to information received promptly from the military environment, based on the results of interrogation of prisoners of war of the Ukrainian armed forces from the 82nd Air Assault Brigade, the Ukrainian leadership is planning to strike nuclear facilities of Russia. At the moment, it is known about the intention to attack the nuclear facilities of the Kursk and Zaporizhzhya NPPs in Kurchatov and Energodar," the administration wrote on Telegram.

The Ukrainian strikes on nuclear facilities aim to accuse Russia of provocation, it indicated.

In a related context, Sergei Lebedev, the coordinator of a local pro-Russian underground network, told Sputnik that the planned attacks on the Kursk and Zaporozhye NPPs are being overseen by Western intelligence services, particularly from the UK.

Lebedev stated that Ukrainian forces "are planning to carry out a missile attack with NATO weapons on the Kursk and Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plants soon. Western intelligence agencies, mainly UK ones, are supervising the terrorist attack. Long-range missiles do not fly to targets without their knowledge."

Ukraine suffering massive losses in Kursk offensive, Russia says

Russian officials said Wednesday that Russia's armed forces have claimed significant success in repelling a large-scale offensive by Ukrainian troops in the Kursk Region.

General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat special forces regiment, reported that nearly 12,000 Ukrainian soldiers, including numerous foreign fighters, had entered the region but that most had already been eliminated.

"We estimate that around 12,000 personnel entered the Kursk Region," General Alaudinov told Russian broadcaster Rossiya 1. He highlighted the involvement of foreign fighters, noting the presence of Polish, English, and French speakers among the Ukrainian forces.

"Most of them have already been destroyed," he said.

The offensive, which began on August 6, aimed to seize strategic facilities in both the Kursk and Belgorod regions, Alaudinov explained. The operation was reportedly part of a broader strategy by NATO to enable Ukrainian forces to capture significant Russian territory, thereby putting pressure on Moscow.

Despite the scale of the attack, Alaudinov noted that Ukrainian aircraft were not observed over the Kursk Region during the offensive.

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the assault, describing it as another "large-scale provocation" by Ukraine, targeting civilian infrastructure. He vowed that the Russian military would deliver a decisive response in the border regions.

Earlier reports from the Russian Foreign Ministry indicated that Ukrainian forces had suffered heavy losses, including up to 2,300 personnel and 37 tanks, during their incursion into the Kursk Region.

Read more: Kiev struggling against Russian air, ground superiority: US DoD agency