The Russian-appointed head of the occupied Ukrainian town of Enerhodar, next to Europe's largest nuclear power plant, was injured in an explosion on Sunday, according to a Ukrainian official and a report by a Russian news agency.

Andrei Shevchuk, who was appointed mayor of Enerhodar following the Russian army's occupation of the town, was in intensive care following the attack, Russia's RIA news agency reported, citing a source in the emergency services.

"We have accurate confirmation that during the explosion the self-proclaimed head of the 'people's administration' Shevchuk and his bodyguards were injured," Dmytro Orlov, who Ukraine recognizes as mayor of the town said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Enerhodar is a town with a pre-war population of over 50,000. Many residents work at the two power plants located next to the town, one of which is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power station in Europe. Ukraine has previously complained that Russia's occupation of the plant raises the risk of a nuclear disaster.

Ukraine last week said it had attacked an armored train carrying Russian troops in the occupied southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol.

Earlier, the country's state-run atomic energy company said Russian missiles had flown over Europe's largest nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine during an airstrike, reiterating warnings that Russia's invasion could lead to a "nuclear catastrophe."

"Missiles lying at a low altitude directly over the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where there are seven nuclear facilities with a huge amount of nuclear material, poses huge risks," Petro Kotin, Energoatom's acting chief, said.