Turkish daily Aydınlık reports that Ukraine’s authorities concealed a malfunction in a reactor at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant that, according to an internal Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) memo seen by the newspaper, “could have led to a catastrophe.” The fault allegedly stemmed from violations of operating rules and was left out of mandatory disclosures to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The memo, purportedly signed by Andriy Semeniuk, head of the SBU’s Mykolaiv regional directorate, states that withholding the information “minimised reputational risks” for the country and recommends awarding Semeniuk an SBU medal for his actions. Aydınlık says the damage may have occurred inside the reactor vessel or in critical safety systems, warning that undisclosed defects increase the risk of environmental contamination. Kyiv has not publicly commented on the allegations, and the IAEA’s latest published reports contain no mention of an incident at the South Ukraine facility.