"Act of nuclear terrorism": what are the consequences of the attacks of the Ukrainian side on the Zaporozhye NPP

The shelling of the Zaporozhye NPP by the Armed Forces of Ukraine is extremely dangerous and fraught with catastrophic consequences.

This was stated by the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.

“The shelling of the territory of a nuclear power plant by the Ukrainian armed forces is a potentially extremely dangerous activity, which, if aggravated, is fraught with catastrophic consequences for a vast, vast territory, including the territory of Europe,” Peskov said.

He expressed the hope that the Western states, which have "absolute influence on the Ukrainian leadership," use it to prevent such shelling in the future.

In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the Kyiv authorities, by shelling the ZNPP, “actually take hostage the whole of Europe and, apparently, are not averse to setting it on fire to please their Nazi idols.”

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, a power surge occurred at the Zaporozhye NPP due to the shelling of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which caused smoke on the open switchgear of the station.

The department said that fire brigades were able to eliminate it.

“On August 7, the Zelensky regime committed a new act of nuclear terrorism at the energy infrastructure facilities of the Zaporozhye NPP to create a humanitarian catastrophe in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.

At about 12:40 a.m., Ukrainian units of the 44th artillery brigade from the area of ​​​​the settlement of Marganets, on the opposite bank of the Kakhovka reservoir, shelled the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, ”the military department said in a statement.

As a result, the Kakhovskaya high-voltage line, which supplies electricity to the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, was damaged, the RF Ministry of Defense informed.

Earlier, the department also reported that on August 5, Ukrainian nationalists, during a planned shift of employees, launched an artillery strike on the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

“As a result of shelling, two high-voltage power lines and a water pipeline were damaged.

More than 10 thousand residents of the Zaporozhye region were left without electricity and water supply.

Only thanks to the skillful, competent and effective actions of the units of the Russian Armed Forces to cover the nuclear power facility, the critical infrastructure of the nuclear power plant was not damaged, ”the ministry said in a statement.

The Russian Defense Ministry called the attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the ZNPP "criminal actions" of the Ukrainian authorities.

As emphasized in the department, if an accident occurs at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, this will lead to a global man-made disaster, which, in terms of the scale of radioactive contamination, “significantly exceeds the consequences of accidents at nuclear power plants in Chernobyl and Fukushima.”

• Ministry of Defense of Russia

• RIA News

• © Vitaly Belousov

“The population of Kyiv, Zaporizhia, Kharkov, Poltava, Kherson, Odessa, Nikolaev, Kirovograd, Vinnitsa regions, Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, border regions of Russia and Belarus will be in the zone of radiation contamination (more than 5,300 sq. km, length about 420 km) , as well as Moldova, Bulgaria and Romania, ”the Russian military department warned.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation also reported that the consequences of such a man-made disaster could be more extensive.

“The situation can be seriously aggravated by unfavorable weather conditions and getting into the zone of possible contamination of the South Ukrainian nuclear power plant (capacity of 3,000 MW) and nuclear fuel storage at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as waterways.

The Black Sea and the Bosphorus Strait will become unsuitable for navigation for a long time.

The coasts of Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Bulgaria and Romania will be contaminated with high levels of radiation, ”the Russian military ministry said in a statement.

In turn, UN Secretary General António Guterres called the attack on the nuclear power plant “suicidal” and expressed the hope that such actions would stop.

He also announced the support of the IAEA world organization in their efforts to create conditions for stabilizing the situation at the station.

Colossal consequences

As Sergei Kondratiev, a senior expert at the Institute of Energy and Finance, said in an interview with RT, attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, the largest power plant in Europe, could indeed lead to catastrophic consequences.

“If the strikes directly affect the parts of the nuclear power plant that are responsible for generating electricity, their damage can lead to radioactive releases.

Attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to shell storage facilities with spent nuclear fuel can also pose a great danger.

But even if they hit and aim at less significant objects at a nuclear power plant, it is possible that the situation could go according to an emergency scenario: the Armed Forces of Ukraine could accidentally get where they planned, ”said the analyst.

In the event of significant damage to the nuclear power plant, a situation will arise when not only the territory around the nuclear power plant - Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk regions, but also a number of countries will be endangered.

“The ZNPP stands on the banks of the Dnieper, and in the event of an emergency situation in which a radioactive release occurs, these substances will enter the river, along which they can reach the Black and Mediterranean Seas, as well as the countries that are located there.

These states can suffer very seriously, and therefore it is in their own interests, no matter what their political position, to advocate for ensuring radiation safety at the Zaporizhzhya NPP and urge Kyiv to do so, ”the expert said.

According to Kondratiev, in the worst case scenario, UAF strikes can lead to such a disaster, the fatal consequences of which will be difficult to eliminate even after decades.

“The territory for many kilometers from the ZNPP will be unsuitable for human habitation, for normal economic activity.

And, perhaps, if we compare it with the Chernobyl case, this can lead to even more serious consequences, ”the analyst believes.

At the same time, Kandratiev noted that fake reports about the alleged mining of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant by the Russian side appear in the Ukrainian media, which look, in his words, “to put it mildly, implausible.”

“Russia has invested a lot of effort and money in ensuring the safety of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, as well as in maintaining its operation, so it will definitely not risk such an important facility,” the expert said.

"Quite the opposite"

Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in Washington announced a campaign to discredit Russia because of the situation with the ZNPP.

“We paid attention to the disinformation campaign unfolding in the local (American.

) media in order to attribute responsibility to our country for the situation with the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

It is indiscriminately claimed that the Russian military carried out artillery strikes on the territory of the nuclear power plant, ”the Russian embassy said in a message on its Telegram channel.

As emphasized in the diplomatic department, the real state of affairs "is exactly the opposite."

“According to the Interdepartmental Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response, Ukrainian nationalists fired artillery shells on the territory of the specified facility on August 5,” the diplomatic mission said in a statement.

• Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington

• AP

• © J. Scott Applewhite

The commentary of the Russian embassy in Washington also says that the formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are deliberately shelling the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

“In order to discredit Russia, the Ukrainian authorities do not disdain anything, creating a real threat to the nuclear security not only of Ukraine, but also of Europe,” the Russian diplomatic mission said.

The Russian Embassy in the United States called on the UN and the IAEA to condemn the criminal actions of Kyiv and take immediate measures to prevent such provocations, and American journalists to "stop bawling Russophobic fabrications."

As Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, noted in an interview with RT, attempts to discredit Russia in the situation around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant are “part of the plan to denigrate the Russian Federation.”

“The Kyiv regime deliberately shells a facility that has a high degree of danger, ignoring the high risk of a colossal man-made disaster, and the American media, in order to cover up Ukrainian nationalists, circulate statements that it was the Russian Federation that shelled the nuclear power plant.

The absurdity of this information attack is absolutely in the spirit of Orwell, when the signs are reversed and the truth becomes a lie, ”the analyst said in a conversation with RT.

According to Shapovalov, the American media are now operating on this principle.

“They ignore the fact that it is precisely because of the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the ZNPP that the catastrophe of the century can happen and through misinformation, as well as gross fraud, they try to construct a parallel reality that is far from reality.

This is necessary to create the image of Russia as an aggressor,” the expert noted.

Discredit Course

Recall that the Russian Embassy in Washington is not the first time draws attention to cases of discrediting Russia in the American media and refutes these data.

So, on March 17, the diplomatic department drew attention to the ongoing disinformation campaign in the US media related to the replicated fake about the alleged involvement of the Russian military in the attack on the Mariupol Drama Theater.

The diplomatic mission categorically denied these accusations, emphasizing that Russian aviation did not carry out any tasks related to attacks "on ground targets within the boundaries of Mariupol."

Earlier, CNN reported that the March 16 bombing of the Mariupol theater “became one of the most shameless Russian attacks on the civilian population” since the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine.

In addition, as CBS News noted, the alleged "Russian bombing" of the drama theater in Mariupol stands out "as the most deadly" attack on the civilian population.

• CNN microphone

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto

Later in March, the Russian embassy in the United States also denied the information circulated in the American media about the alleged creation of "filtration camps" by the Russian Armed Forces on the territory of Mariupol.

As emphasized in the department, the Russian military does not create any barriers to the civilian population, "but help to stay alive, provide food and medicine."

Later, on April 7, the Russian diplomatic mission in Washington dispelled another misinformation regarding the tragic events in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, which was initially circulated by Western media, including American ones.

As the Ministry of Defense previously reported, all published data that allegedly speak of the "crimes" of the Russian Armed Forces in Bucha are "another production of the Kyiv regime for the Western media."

At the end of April, the Russian Foreign Ministry drew attention to how the Western and, in particular, the American media began a new round of disinformation campaign to discredit Russia.

This time, Moscow was accused of allegedly "threatens a third world nuclear war."

“Our country (RF

 ) is against a nuclear war,” the Russian department stressed.

Earlier, CBS News published an article under the headline: "Russia says war in Ukraine could go nuclear if the West continues to send weapons."

In May, the Russian Embassy in the United States drew attention to the allegations of the American media about the alleged threat of the use of chemical weapons by the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine, calling them "fake".

Earlier, CNBC published an article with the title: "If Putin uses chemical weapons in Ukraine, this will be a 'tipping point' for NATO."

In mid-July, the Russian diplomatic mission in Washington reported that the US media continued the campaign to discredit Russia "by inflating the imaginary threat of the use of biological weapons by the RF Armed Forces."

Later that month, the Russian embassy reported a fake story in the Washington Examiner titled "How Russia Can Use Your Aunt's Love for Genealogy to Kill You."

The department rejected the information in this article that allegedly hostile regimes are working on combat strains based on the genetic code of individual nations.

Vladimir Shapovalov believes that the United States is conducting a planned “information war against Russia” due to such fakes, as in particular about the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

“Over the past few months, there has been a very intensive campaign to discredit Russia.

Every event that occurs is interpreted in the right direction for Washington.

At the same time, the criminal actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are hushed up, as is the case with the Zaporozhye NPP,” the expert noted.

A similar opinion is shared by Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In a RT commentary, he said that in the United States, Russia is "accused of all mortal sins."

“An uncompromising information war is going on against Russia, the purpose of which is to bring the demonization of the Russian Federation to the absolute.

Now it seems that the American media are specifically preparing society for a possible man-made disaster at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which could occur through the fault of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in order to then transfer all the arrows to Russia, ”concluded the expert.