PUTIN has sparked a "mad panic" after ordering the mass evacuation of a town near Europe's biggest nuclear power plant.
UN's nuclear watchdog is fearing a "severe nuclear accident" after Moscow ordered the emptying of 18 towns and villages closest to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, where most of its workers live.
Ukrainian officials said there were five-hour waits as thousands of cars fled the area as Putin's orders created a "mad panic" over an approaching nuclear disaster.
The plant is near the front lines of fighting, where Kyiv said today a 72-year-old woman was killed and three others were wounded after Russian forces fired a barrage of shells into the area neighbouring the plant.
The region is also considered a likely area where Ukraine may focus its anticipated counteroffensive.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi said that the situation at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is "becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous."
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He added: "I'm extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant."
Grossi explained that IAEA experts at the nuclear site are continuing to hear shelling on a regular basis.
Russian head of the partially-occupied Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, led the evacuation of the nuclear plant.
This included the large town of Enerhodar in a bid to "strengthen security" as they brace for Ukraine's expected counteroffensive.
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The settlements affected are about 30 to 40 miles from the front line of fighting between Ukraine and Russia, and Balitsky said that Ukraine had intensified attacks on the area in the past several days.
“I decided to remove, first of all, children with their parents, the elderly, the disabled, patients of medical institutions from enemy fire and move them from the front-line territories deep into the region,” Balitsky wrote on Telegram on Friday.
“This is a necessary measure to ensure the safety of the residents of the front line territories.”
The Ukrainian General Staff said Sunday that the evacuation of Enerhodar had already begun.
The first people to be evacuated where those who took Russian citizenship following the capture of the town by Moscow early in the war.
"We must act now to prevent the threat of a severe nuclear accident and its associated consequence for the population and the environment," IAEA chief Grossi said.
"This major nuclear facility must be protected. I will continue to press for a commitment by all sides to achieve this vital objective."
Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said that shops in the evacuated areas had run out of goods and medicine, while hospitals were discharging people onto the streets.
"The partial evacuation they announced is going too fast," Fedorov said. "Under the guise of a contrived 'evacuation', the occupiers are preparing real provocations."
The Ukrainian politician also made the claim that two-thirds of the evacuation convoys – supposed to be filled with civilians – were actually transporting retreating Russian troops.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces overnight attacked the largest port in the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula with drones.
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The governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said 10 Ukrainian drones targeted the city, three of which were shot down by air defence systems.
Russia continued its missile attacks overnight and early this morning as air raid sirens blared for several hours over almost two-thirds of Ukraine, including Kyiv.
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