Kyiv intends to prepare a resonant provocation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on August 19 during a visit to Ukraine by UN Secretary General António Guterres, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

As the official representative of the department, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov, noted during the briefing, Russia is planned to be accused of creating a man-made disaster at the power plant.

“In order to prepare a provocation, the command of the Dnipro operational-tactical group is deploying radiation observation posts in the Zaporozhye region by August 19, and also organizes training for units of the 108th territorial defense brigade, the 44th artillery brigade and military units stationed in Zaporozhye, according to the actions in conditions of radiation contamination of the area, ”the Russian defense department said.

According to him, the units of the 704th Regiment of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection (RCBZ) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should complete their concentration in the Zaporozhye region by August 19 and be ready to record the fact of the accident at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, as well as carry out a set of measures to demonstrate the alleged liquidation of its consequences.

As Konashenkov added, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are planning to strike at the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant from Nikopol.

  • Statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

“On August 19, units of the 44th artillery brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are planning to launch artillery strikes on the territory of the Zaporozhye NPP from firing positions located in the city of Nikopol,” he said.

The Ministry of Defense also noted that the Ukrainian leadership spread rumors that Russian troops occupied the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and were shelling the Armed Forces of Ukraine from long-range artillery systems, hiding behind a nuclear facility.

Konashenkov stressed that there are no Russian heavy weapons either on the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant or in the areas adjacent to it.

As the representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation clarified, only security units are located in these locations.

“The armed forces of the Russian Federation are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the Zaporizhzhya NPP,” he concluded.

In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, on the air of Soloviev Live, called the situation created by Kyiv around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant nuclear blackmail.

“This is not just a provocation, this is what we called nuclear blackmail... A provocation around a nuclear facility for a long time, when a direct threat to nuclear energy is created.

What else can you call it?"

Zakharova said.

According to her, the Ukrainian authorities are blackmailing not one country or a specific political entity, but the whole of Europe.

Also on russian.rt.com Six arrivals of Ukrainian shells were recorded in the area of ​​Zaporozhye NPP

The IAEA delegation cannot come to the Zaporozhye NPP while the Ukrainian side is shelling the plant.

This was stated by Igor Vishnevetsky, Deputy Director of the Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry, during the review conference of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

“All this (the restoration of IAEA control at the facility. -

RT

) should be facilitated.

And for this to happen, the first thing that must be done is to stop the shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant by the Ukrainian side.

A delegation cannot arrive there while shelling is underway, it is dangerous, ”TASS quotes Vishnevetsky.

Meanwhile, the authorities of the Zaporozhye region have previously noted that the UN leadership does not pay attention to the facts of shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

In particular, Volodymyr Rogov, a member of the main council of the administration of the Zaporozhye region, spoke about this. 

“If they continue to ignore the facts of the shelling of nuclear power plants by Ukrainian militants and do not try to somehow reason with them, then it’s time to rename such a structure into the Organization of Certain Nations, since today the UN has become a platform for promoting the geopolitical interests of the Anglo-Saxons exclusively,” he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.