A Russian missile exploded near the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant just after midnight on Monday and forced a shutdown at a hydroelectric station, Ukrainian officials said, in the latest attack by Moscow on critical infrastructure in Ukraine.

A missile exploded less than 1,000 feet from the nuclear plant’s reactors and caused extensive damage to a hydroelectric power station in the industrial zone that surrounds the nuclear complex.

There was no damage to essential safety equipment at the nuclear power plant, which remained fully operational, the company said.

No casualties were immediately reported.

The South Ukraine plant, Ukraine’s second largest functioning nuclear power station, is some 300 miles west of the larger Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is occupied by Russian forces and has come under repeated shelling.

Ukraine’s national nuclear energy company, Energoatom, said on Monday that “the Russian army launched a missile attack on the industrial zone of the South Ukrainian nuclear power plant” at 12:20 a.m, causing “a powerful explosion” about 1,000 feet from the reactors.

Its shock wave blew out more than 100 windows at the nuclear plant, according to the company, which released security camera footage that showed a massive fireball lighting up the night sky over the site.

The blast forced the shutdown of one of the hydroelectric plant’s hydraulic units, causing partial power outages.

The nuclear plant, near the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk in the Mykolaiv region, is part of the South Ukrainian Energy Complex, which includes the hydroelectric plant and one other power station.

It lies more than 100 miles north of the city of Mykolaiv and far from any frontline fighting.

The strike revived concerns about the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants as Russia steps up attacks aimed at degrading critical energy infrastructure.

Before the war, 15 working reactors at four nuclear power plants produced more than half of Ukraine’s electricity, the second highest share among European nations after France.

The situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant— which has been occupied by Russian forces since early in the war but is operated by Ukrainian engineers — appears to have stabilised in recent days after the plant resumed receiving electricity from the country’s power grid on Friday.

But its reactors have all been shut down as a safety measure after Energoatom determined that it was too risky to keep them running as fighting continued nearby.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, when it was fully operational, supplied about a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity.

Russia’s assaults on Ukraine’s power infrastructure have continued as its campaign on the battlefield falters.

After its forces were driven out of northeastern Ukraine just over a week ago, the Kremlinlaunched missile strikes on a major heat and power plant in Kharkiv, briefly plunging the region into a blackout.

New York Times News Service