West is taking non-public steps to prevent accident at ZNPP - Ukrainian intelligence

Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, shared the information on Espreso TV.

"Ukraine's proactive informational, diplomatic and security position on the ZNPP has an impact and this time it also played a role. The world should not pretend that nothing is happening or that it does not know what is going on. The Zaporizhzhia NPP has been seized by terrorists. A number of facilities at the plant were mined last year, and after the Russians blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and dam, more mines were placed, including in the NPP’s cooling pool," he said.

Yusov added that these are facts that Ukraine informs the whole world about.

"The Russians were forced to react - to justify themselves in part, to traditionally blame the Ukrainian side, and to intensify their demonstrative behavior and nuclear blackmail. This is what they are doing now. If we talk about safeguards, there are non-public steps taken by the West, and there is a public component. Finally, there is the proactive position of international organizations and the free world, which should lead to the demilitarization of the ZNPP, the withdrawal of the occupiers and the return of the legitimate authorities. Only this can guarantee security at the facility and compliance with all relevant international standards," the intelligence representative summarized.

The situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Russians occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP in late February 2022. Since then, there has been a constant presence of personnel and military equipment, which the invaders 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.

It became known in May 2023 that the Russians had placed explosives in the turbine room of the  ZNPP’s fourth power unit. Additionally, the invaders 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 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.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and warned him that Russia was preparing provocations at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

Yuriy Malashko, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, said that as of July 5, the radiation background near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and within 50 kilometers was normal, and the plant was powered by a backup power grid.