The UN nuclear watchdog will hold a special meeting Friday after Ukraine accused Russia of undermining atomic safety by shattering a radiation-equipped children's hospital, according to a confidential document seen by AFP.
The striking summons for the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors comes amid international outrage over the missile attack on the Okhmatdy paediatric hospital in Kyiv on Monday.
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It killed two adults and wounded 32 more, with eight children being hospitalised, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry.
Kyiv requested the IAEA hold an emergency meeting, saying that the hospital had radiation equipment used notably to treat cancer patients.
The meeting will convene at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Friday at the IAEA's Vienna headquarters, the board's current chair, Argentina's ambassador Holger Martinsen, wrote in a confidential note to diplomats.
The agency's 35-nation board usually meets every three months, but can be convened at the request of a member state.
In a letter sent Monday to Martinsen, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko requested the board meet "in connection with the brutal attack by the Russian Federation on a children's hospital in Kyiv".
The paediatric hospital receives "IAEA equipment and technical assistance under technical cooperation programmes" and owns "27 sources of ionising radiation" to treat cancer, Galushchenko added.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November, 4, 2024
The energy minister said Russia's missile attack "not only endangers lives but also constitutes a blatant violation of the IAEA's core principles and values, undermining the very foundation of international nuclear safety and security".
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said its initial assessment found that Moscow had struck the facility with a Kh-101 strategic cruise missile.
Russia said its forces had struck "intended" military targets and blamed Ukrainian air defence missiles for the extensive damage to civilian targets.
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