Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Enerhodar "not prepared for Russian attack" - Mayor Orlov

He said this in an interview with Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.

Orlov said that no one expected the Russian attack on ZNPP, as the country had previously recognised that the plant and the area around it could not be involved in an armed conflict.

"It was unpredictable, because the Russians acted contrary to international law. Everyone believed that this could not happen. After all, the world (including the Soviet Union, whose successor Russia considers itself to be) recognised that the nuclear power plant and the area around it are not a territory for any armed conflict or escalation. People were calm," the mayor said.

He noted that the local authorities and self-government did not take any preparatory actions in advance, and the mayor himself learned about the invasion from the news.

"I personally learnt about the invasion, like everyone else, from the news. Neither the local authorities nor other state bodies on the territory of the NPP or the city took any preparatory actions. As for the instructions, we did not receive them the day before either. After the fact, I was in touch with the special services and the regional civil-military administration 24/7. But when the Russian forces were fully entrenched in the city, there was no question of following the instructions, because it was simply impossible to do so," Orlov explained.

What is known about the situation at ZNPP

Russia occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP at the end of February 2022. Since then, personnel and military equipment have been permanently stationed there, which the invaders store in the machine rooms and from time to time 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. As early as last year, Russian occupiers started bringing explosives to ZNPP.

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

On 22 June, 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.

Later, the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, said that Russia had completed preparations for a terrorist attack at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. After that, large-scale exercises were conducted in four regions of Ukraine in case of a terrorist attack on the ZNPP.

On 30 June, the DIU reported that the occupiers were gradually leaving ZNPP, and that Ukrainian employees who had signed a contract with Rosatom had also received evacuation recommendations. In addition, the plant's staff received an order to blame Ukraine in any emergency situation. On 2 July, the mayor of the temporarily occupied Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, said that some of the Rosatom employees and collaborators who had signed a contract with the company had left ZNPP.

At night, on 4 July, Zaporizhzhia NPP lost power from the main power line, and the plant was connected to the only available backup line. Later, the Armed Forces of Ukraine officially reported that the occupiers were preparing a provocation at ZNPP: the Russian forces had placed suspicious devices similar to explosives on the roof of units 3 and 4.

On 5 July, during a meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation, the European Union issued a statement saying that Russia should immediately stop actions that threaten the safety of nuclear facilities and withdraw its troops from Ukraine. At the same time, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that the agency had not detected any signs of mining at ZNPP. According to him, despite this, experts are "extremely wary". Subsequently, satellite images from Planet Labs, taken on the morning of 5 July, appeared, showing the appearance of unknown objects on the roof of the fourth power unit of Zaporizhzhia NPP. The General Staff had previously reported that this particular power unit had been mined.

At the same time, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, said on 6 July that the threat of a terrorist attack at Zaporizhzhya NPP was decreasing. However, the president of NNEGC Energoatom later said that about 700 Russians were currently at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The plant is mined, and machine gun nests are placed on the roofs of the power units. Energoatom also reported that the occupiers allow specialists from the Russian Federation to work at Zaporizhzhia NPP, who do not have the necessary knowledge and skills to operate the plant.

On 7 July, the United States in the OSCE called on Russia to immediately withdraw its troops from ZNPP and return it to Ukrainian control, as it was concerned about reports of Russia's mining of the plant and plans for a false flag operation. Also on that day, it became known that the IAEA mission was able to inspect several facilities at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, except for the roof, but found no signs of explosives.

The territory of the occupied ZNPP was also visited by the first deputy head of Putin's administration, Sergey Kiriyenko. The visit took place against the backdrop of information about Russian occupiers' mining of ZNPP.

Instead, Ukrainian intelligence noted that the occupiers continue to mine Zaporizhzhia NPP and facilities on the plant's territory. They are installing explosives and minefields. The Ministry of Defence emphasised that the enemy was mining technical premises and machine rooms.

On 14 July, it became known that about 500 Russian military and Rosatom employees were currently at ZNPP, in particular, they were using the plant to shell Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions. Later, Energoatom President Petro Kotin said that the Russian forces continued to mine ZNPP. The occupiers also use the plant as their military base.

On 19 July, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine warned that Russia was planning another armed provocation on the territory of Zaporizhzhia NPP "under a false flag". The very next day, it was reported that the Ukrainian staff of ZNPP refused to launch the fourth power unit, which was ordered to be launched by the illegally appointed Russian management. As a result, the occupiers brought workers from six Russian nuclear power plants to Zaporizhzhia NPP.

On 24 July, the Russian occupiers put the fourth power unit of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant into a "hot shutdown" state, which is a violation of international nuclear law.

And on 25 July, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recorded anti-personnel mines on the outskirts of the Zaporizhzhia NPP site.

After the fourth power unit at the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP was put on hot shutdown, the fifth power unit was cooled down on 29 July.