A Russian military truck at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on June 15. SERGEI ILNITSKY (EFE)
Ukraine has warned that Russia has “designed and approved” a plan to attack the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe. Military intelligence chief Kirilo Budanov, in an interview with The New Statesman on Friday, assured that Russian occupying forces, who have maintained control of the facilities since early March last year, have planted mines in the pond that allows the facility to cool. He also adds that they brought vehicles with explosives to four of the six reactors.
At such moments, Budanov understands, a few minutes is enough to give someone an order. In his opinion, there are two possible scenarios. The first is to blow up the power plant in case Russian soldiers are driven off the left bank of the Dnieper, creating an area that local troops could not advance through. Second, in desperation, Russia is using a nuclear disaster as a “pre-emptive measure” to stop Ukraine’s nuclear offensive before it begins.
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The complaint about the placement of these explosives comes after multiple reports suggesting that Russian occupying forces were responsible for the June 6 demolition of another critical facility in Ukraine, the Nova Kajovka dam. In statements to state television on June 20, the director of the Ukrainian military intelligence service warned of the existence of explosives and the dangers they posed if they were activated. A day later, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which had sent a delegation to the plant on the 15th, said in a report that it had not seen any mines, although they knew of their existence near the water pond that allows them to Cooling of the plants.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of the possibility of this attack in his daily message on the 22nd. “The world needs to know what the occupier is preparing,” said the President. “We will continue to inform our partners. We will also inform those countries that already claim to be neutral. Obviously the radiation doesn’t ask who is neutral and can reach anyone in the world,” he added with some sarcasm. “The complete shutdown of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is a necessity,” stressed Zelenskyy, explaining that he had instructed Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko to take the necessary measures in view of the existing risks.
From the first weeks of the occupation of the plant, the site was often the scene of clashes between the two armies. The population of the surrounding towns, at least in the area under Ukrainian control on the right bank of the Dnieper, is prepared for a possible nuclear accident.
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In the June 21 report, the IAEA not only acknowledged that it is aware of the existence of mines near the plant pond, but also ensures that these devices have historically been placed outside the plant site and at various locations within the plant site According to the report, the facility’s staff was “defensive” by nature. The IAEA delegation, led by the organization’s director, Argentine Rafael Grossi, was unable to verify the presence of explosives during its visit.
“Our assessment of these particular sites determined that while the presence of explosive devices would not meet safety standards, the facility’s core safety functions would not be significantly compromised. “We are following the matter with great attention,” Grossi emphasizes in the report, in which they refer to Budanov’s complaint without explicitly naming him.
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