Russia deploys explosive equipment at 4 of 6 units at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - Budanov

Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate Major General Kyrylo Budanov said this in an interview with The New Statement.

He noted that without cooling, the plant's fuel rods could melt down in a period of 10 hours to 14 days. The accident at the ZNPP could also be caused by an increase in the voltage on the power supply lines to the plant, which could be organized by the Russian forces. 

The plan for a terrorist attack on the ZNPP is fully developed and approved. They can use technical means to accelerate the disaster, according to Budanov. 

He recalled that the Russian forces had mined the ZNPP cooling pond. He also informed that the invaders had placed equipment with explosives near four of the plant's six power units.

“The situation has never been as severe as now,” he emphasized. 

Budanov added that Russia could commit a terrorist attack at the plant because of the defeat of the occupation forces on the left bank of the Dnipro River. Thus, he said, Russia considers the creation of a nuclear disaster zone as an obstacle to the further advance of Ukrainian troops.

At the same time, the intelligence chief claims that there is a risk that Russia could attack the ZNPP with a radiation leak as a preventive measure to stop Ukraine's counteroffensive and freeze the front line as it is now.

The threat of a terrorist attack and the situation at ZNPP

Invading Russian forces occupied the Zaporizhzhia NPP in late February 2022. Since then, personnel and military equipment have been permanently stationed there, which the invaders store in the machine rooms and occasionally move to positions to shell the territories of the Nikopol district of the Dnipro region, located on the other side of the Kakhovka reservoir.

An IAEA monitoring mission is working at the plant to ensure that the plant is not used as a military base, that the plant is not attacked or fired upon, and that external power supplies are not interrupted. However, blackouts at the NPP occur constantly. Since last year, the occupiers have started bringing explosives to ZNPP.

It became known in May 2023 that the Russians had placed explosives in the turbine room of the fourth power unit of the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP. The occupiers also almost completely destroyed the emergency preparedness and response system at the nuclear power plant.

On June 22, IAEA Director General Grossi said after visiting ZNPP that the situation there was extremely unstable. On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that intelligence had received information that Russia was considering a scenario of a terrorist attack at the temporarily occupied ZNPP that would cause a radiation release. He also emphasized that the world has enough power to prevent any radiation incidents, let alone a radiation disaster - we need to put pressure and act. Instead, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Zelenskyy's statement a lie.

In turn, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expects a clear assessment of the IAEA's criminal actions by Russia and has appealed to the international community, in particular the Group of Seven and the European Union, to take urgent measures to prevent a nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

In the event of a terrorist attack at the Zaporizhzhia NPP in Enerhodar, the Russian occupation army will not be able to control its consequences. Probably, by signaling preparations for sabotage at the plant, the Russians are trying to encourage the Ukrainian Armed Forces to abandon counteroffensive operations in the area, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War. 

The Ministry of Health has warned that uncontrolled use of potassium iodide, which Ukrainians may resort to due to fears of an accident at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, is dangerous to health and life.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has also deployed aid headquarters, and rescuers will conduct exercises to eliminate the consequences of a possible Russian terrorist attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.