Russian army uses Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant as a shield - NYT

"Along most of the front lines of Russia's invasion in Ukraine, when one side launches an artillery attack, the other fires back. But not in Nikopol, a town deep in the southern countryside, where the Ukrainian army faces a new and unpleasant obstacle as it prepares for a major counteroffensive: a nuclear power plant that the Russian army turned into a fortress. Ukrainian-controlled Nikopol is on the west bank of the Dnieper. On the opposite bank is a giant nuclear power plant — the largest in Europe — that the Russian army seized in March. The Russians have been firing from cover since mid-July, sending rockets across the river to Nikopol and other goals," the publication writes.

The New York Times calls such shots by the Russians "gratuitous" because Ukraine cannot fire back volleys using advanced US-provided missile systems that have silenced Russian guns elsewhere on the front line.

"This could lead to the risk of damage to one of the six reactors with pressurized water or highly radioactive waste in the repository. And Russia knows this," the publication added.

"They hide there so they don't get hit," says the mayor of Nikopol, Oleksandr Sayuk, "Otherwise, why would they be at the power plant? It's very dangerous to use such an object as a shield."

Residents are fleeing Nikopol because of the danger of both shelling and a possible radiation leak. And those who remain feel helpless, like targets in a shooting range.

"We are like condemned prisoners who have to just stand there and get shot at," said local resident Galina Graschenkova, a pensioner whose house was damaged by Russian artillery. "They shoot at us, and we can't do anything."

Attacks from the nuclear plant that has become the focus of the war are complicating Ukraine's plans in the south as Russia's advance in the east has slowed.

As the counterattack intensifies, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant creates difficulties. Russian forces have occupied the nuclear site since March 4, but only began using it for artillery strikes three weeks ago, Ukrainian officials say, around the time HIMARS appeared on the battlefield. Shielded from return fire, the Russians threaten Ukrainian troops advancing toward the Nova Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River, one of the last crossing points for Russian reinforcements.

Ukraine will have to solve this problem by moving troops and equipment into the counteroffensive zone.

"The possibilities of the Ukrainian army for a retaliatory strike in Nikopol are limited. One of the tried-and-tested tactics is to carry out precise strikes that avoid the risk of damaging the reactors as much as possible. For example, on July 22, Ukrainian military intelligence reported a strike from a kamikaze drone that blew up an anti-aircraft installation and a jet system salvo fire "Grad" and neutralized Russian soldiers in a tent city about 150 meters from the reactor," the publication writes.

Only a direct hit from a powerful weapon could penetrate the concrete shell of the reactors, said Dmytro Orlov, mayor of the city of Energodar, where the reactor is located. But if it does, it risks a meltdown or explosion that could spread radiation downwind across Ukraine and beyond, as happened at Chernobyl in 1986, the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Another risk is that the projectile could hit highly radioactive spent fuel stored in concrete canisters and spread radiation outdoors like a dirty bomb.

The fatigue of the Ukrainian control room workers at the reactor also causes concern. Russian soldiers subjected them to brutal interrogations, including electric torture, on suspicion of sabotage or of informing the Ukrainian military about activities at the station, about a dozen disappeared after being kidnapped.