Because the site’s “inventory of radioactive material is minimal” and has been placed in a “sub-critical” state, the IAEA stated that “any damage to it would have no radiological consequences.”

The facility is part of the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, a research institute that produces radioactive materials for medical and industrial use. Kharkiv has come under heavy Russian shelling and missile attacks in recent days, as Moscow seeks to increase pressure on Ukraine to surrender.

The Nuclear Institute itself has been the focus of online conspiracy theories and unconfirmed claims in the Russian media that Ukraine is trying to develop a “dirty bomb” – a crude nuclear weapon that could lead to mass casualties.

“We have already had several episodes compromising safety at Ukraine’s nuclear sites,” said IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi.

Zaporizhzhia – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – is now under the control of Russian forces, blocking the delivery of spare parts and medicine, according to the IAEA.

Only two of the facility’s six reactors are operational. Communications have also been cut off in the southern city of Mariupol with small nuclear facilities – surrounded by Russian forces – leaving residents without electricity or running water.

The IAEA has urged Moscow and Kyiv to agree on a plan to safeguard nuclear facilities. Grossi has offered to visit the site of the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant – the site of the 1986 catastrophe – where more than 200 crew members have been on site for 12 consecutive days.

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Russia’s UN envoy announces new ceasefire for Tuesday morning