Paris says will propose steps to safeguard 5 Ukrainian nuclear facilities

France will propose to its partners specific steps to safeguard five main Ukrainian nuclear facilities based on the criteria by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Elysee Palace said on Friday.

Ukraine has four active nuclear power plants -- Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnitsky, Rivne and South Ukraine. The fifth one in Chernobyl is currently sealed.

"In the coming hours, France will propose to its main partners concrete measures to provide safety of Ukraine's five main nuclear objects based on IAEA technical criteria," the palace said in a statement, noting that French President Emmanuel Macron has met with the IAEA director general and supported the latter's efforts for constant security control of nuclear installations in Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian authorities attempted a provocation overnight by accusing Russia of creating a source of radioactive contamination at Zaporizhzhia NPP.

While patrolling the area adjacent to the station, a group of the Russian National Guard was attacked by a Ukrainian sabotage unit who opened fire on them from the windows of several floors of an educational and training complex located outside the NPP. The firing points of the Ukrainian sabotage group were suppressed by return fire. Leaving the building, the sabotage group set it on fire.

The fire was put out and the NPP is working as usual, with radiation background at normal level, the Russian military said. The US embassy in Kiev in a tweet accused Russia of shelling the nuclear plant.