Putin accuses Ukraine of trying to strike Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused Ukraine of trying to strike Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant in an overnight attack and said Moscow had informed the U.N. nuclear safety watchdog about the situation.

Putin, who did not provide further details about the incident or provide documentary evidence to back up his assertion, made the comments at a meeting of senior officials.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine whose lightning incursion into Kursk, the biggest into Russia by a foreign power since World War Two, saw thousands of Ukrainian troops punch through Russia's western border on Aug. 6, apparently catching Moscow by surprise.

Alexei Smirnov, acting governor of the Kursk region, told Putin at the same meeting that the situation at the Kursk nuclear power station was stable.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)