Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of placing explosives on the Zaporizhzhia power plant – Europe’s second-largest nuclear facility – raising new concerns of a manufactured disaster in an area that has seen heavy fighting.
“Russian troops have placed objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Perhaps to simulate an attack on the plant. Perhaps they have some other scenario,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Tuesday, citing information gathered by Ukraine’s intelligence services. “The world sees – can’t but see – that the only source of danger to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is Russia and no one else.”
Zelenskyy cited Russia’s apparent decision to detonate explosives planted at the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam last month – a demonstration of the Kremlin’s willingness to create widespread civilian catastrophes in an attempt to further its war aims. He feared that Russia now – as it did for the dam – intends to orchestrate an explosion and blame Ukraine for it.
International concerns of a repeat of the Chernobyl crisis have focused for months on the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant – which has been largely powered down for weeks and frequently sees artillery shelling and other forms of fighting.
Russian officials predictably denied Zelenskyy’s accusations – as they did for international assertions of Russia’s involvement in the destruction of the Kakhovka dam – and claimed the Ukrainian leader’s statements represent an attempt to mask a plot by Kyiv in advance of the high-profile summit of NATO country leaders next week.
“The goal is monstrous: to use a nuclear terrorist attack to accuse Russia and force the collective West to get directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict,” Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, wrote on his Telegram channel.
Slutsky said tensions are growing around the Zaporizhzhia plant, as they are also “in European capitals.” And in a thinly veiled warning, added, “Brussels and Washington have every chance of being among the sponsors of nuclear terrorists and will be responsible for the consequences of blowing up” the plant.
The Pentagon has previously criticized Russia’s cavalier behavior surrounding the plant, which its forces have controlled – despite frequent probing attacks from Ukraine – since March 2022.
It has also sided with Kyiv despite some reporting that Ukrainian forces have also fired artillery near the nuclear facility.
“All of us have seen how Russia has shown a complete disregard for the security of Ukraine – of Ukraine’s nuclear power facilities,” a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told reporters at the Pentagon in August. “We’ve seen Russia show a willingness to fire on a nuclear power plant in the past, and so we see Russia’s current actions in and around this plant as really the height of irresponsibility, especially when you consider the responsibilities that come with nuclear power.”
Analysts say that despite Russia’s bluster, it remains unlikely to create a nuclear catastrophe at Zaporizhzhia – at least for now.
“Russian and Ukrainian officials escalated their rhetoric surrounding the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on July 5, but Russia is likely focused on accusing Ukraine of irresponsible actions around the ZNPP including setting conditions for a possible false flag attack,” the independent Institute for the Study of War concluded in an analysis note on Tuesday. “Russia remains unlikely to generate a radiological incident at the ZNPP at this time.”
And others have been unable to confirm Ukraine’s claims. BBC Verify studied satellite imagery from the time of Zelenskyy’s statements and compared them with similar images from prior days and could not see anything that could resemble newly placed explosives. It noted, however, that Ukraine could be relying on drone footage or high-resolution cameras that could detect objects not visible to satellites.
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