After terrorist attack at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Putin may blow up Kursk NPP to blame Ukraine – military analyst Hetman

He shared this opinion with the Espreso TV channel. 

"The destruction of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that the Russian forces are planning to do will not necessarily involve the leakage of radioactive elements. They may resort to destroying the turbines that convert thermal energy into electricity. And then Ukraine will have to restore all this. The option of transferring ZNPP under the control of the IAEA, and thus Ukraine, and then remotely blowing up the plant is also being considered. This scenario is quite likely. After all, then they will accuse Ukraine of blowing it up as well," explained Hetman.

The military analyst is convinced that the Russian forces may also be preparing to blow up Russia’s Kursk NPP.

"It is worth paying attention to the Kursk NPP. Very strange movements are taking place there now. There is information that the Russian forces are also mining this nuclear power plant. It is likely that the Kremlin could blow up the Kursk NPP as well, and then blame Ukraine for it. All options are being considered as such. The Russian forces can stage a terrorist attack on the ZNPP, then blow up the Kursk NPP, and accuse Ukraine of responding to the ZNPP bombing in this way. That is, they are preparing provocations, which have always been in the style of the Russians," he added.

The situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Russian forces occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP in late February 2022. Since then, there has been a constant presence of personnel and military equipment, which the invading Russian troops store in machine rooms and occasionally deploy to positions for shelling the territories of the Nikopol district in the Dnipropetrovsk region, located on the other side of the Kakhovka Reservoir.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a monitoring mission at the station, which is supposed to ensure that the nuclear power plant is not used as a military base, that it is not attacked, and that no fire is initiated from the NPP. Power outages at the nuclear power plant occur regularly though. Occupiers began importing explosives to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant last year.

In May 2023 information emerged that the Russian forces had placed explosives in the turbine room of the ZNPP’s fourth power unit. Additionally, the invading Russian forces have nearly completely destroyed the emergency readiness and response system at the nuclear power plant.

On June 22, the Director-General of the IAEA, after visiting ZNPP Grossi, stated that the situation at the plant is extremely unstable. On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that intelligence had received information that Russia was considering a scenario for a terrorist act at the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which would cause a radiation release.

The Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, stated that Russia has completed preparations for a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

On June 29, large-scale exercises were held in four regions of Ukraine to prepare for a possible terrorist attack on the ZNPP.

On June 30, the Main Intelligence Directorate reported that the occupying Russian forces were gradually leaving the ZNPP, and that Ukrainian employees who had signed a contract with Rosatom also received evacuation recommendations. In addition, the plant's staff received an order to blame Ukraine in any emergency situation.

In his turn, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said that the Ukrainian counteroffensive and the process of Ukraine regaining control over ZNPP would continue even despite Russian nuclear blackmail.

On 2 July, the mayor of the temporarily occupied Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, said that some Rosatom employees and collaborators who had signed a contract with the company had left ZNPP.

On Tuesday, 4 July, the Armed Forces of Ukraine officially reported that the Russian occupying forces were preparing a provocation at ZNPP: Russians had placed suspicious devices similar to explosives on the roof of the third and fourth power units.