The Ukrainian Armed Forces have denied Russian claims of an attack on a power unit at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
This was reported by hromadske, citing the Defence Forces of Southern Ukraine.
The Defence Forces emphasised that Ukrainian servicemen are acting strictly within the bounds of international humanitarian law and are aware of the consequences of any actions regarding nuclear facilities. According to the Ukrainian military, it is Russia that has been illegally holding the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant under military control since March 2022, using the civilian nuclear facility as part of its own military infrastructure. The statement notes that the occupying forces are deploying electronic warfare equipment, weapons, military hardware and personnel on the plant’s premises, and are violating the requirement that weapons of mass destruction must remain within a five-kilometre zone around the facility.
Why the Ukrainian side rejects the Russian Federation’s version
The Southern Defence Forces stated that Russia’s accusations are not backed up by any evidence. They pointed out that Moscow has made similar claims before, and that such statements often coincide with setbacks for Russian troops on the front line. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is located approximately 50 kilometres from the land combat line. The nearest town in Ukrainian-controlled territory is Nikopol, which lies on the other side of the former Kakhovka Reservoir, at least 10 kilometres from the plant. The Ukrainian military also pointed out the lack of high-quality photos or video footage that could confirm the alleged damage. Furthermore, the statement notes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not possess fibre-optic-controlled drones with such a flight range, nor do they have drones equipped with a 5–6-kilogram cumulative warhead, which, according to the Russian side, could have created a hole of that size. The Defence Forces also emphasised that the occupying forces had independently established a multi-layered smoke screen around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, through which a drone would not have been able to fly unnoticed.
What Rosatom said
The day before, Alexei Likhachev, Director General of the Russian state corporation Rosatom, stated that on the afternoon of 30 May, a Ukrainian drone allegedly attacked the machine hall of power unit No. 6 at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. According to him, the main equipment was not damaged, but a hole was made in the wall. Likhachev also claimed that the drone was allegedly controlled via a fibre-optic link, which, in his view, rules out an accidental strike. At the same time, the Ukrainian side rejected these accusations and called them an information provocation by the aggressor state.
The state of the Zaporizhzhia NPP under occupation
Russia occupied the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in early March 2022. Since then, the facility has been under Russian control and has repeatedly faced power supply issues due to damage to power lines. Currently, all power units at the ZNPP are in a ‘cold shutdown’ state. This is a mode in which the nuclear reactor is shut down, whilst the temperature and pressure of the cooling water remain at a low level. In this state, the reactors do not generate electricity and can remain in this condition indefinitely provided there is a stable external power supply. In the event of a power loss at the plant, diesel generators are activated; however, they are designed to operate only in emergency conditions.
Moscow’s position on the future of the plant
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Moscow has no intention of returning the Zaporizhzhia NPP to Ukraine and is not considering the possibility of transferring the plant to joint international control. The Russian Foreign Ministry claims that following the illegal referendum in the Zaporizhzhia region in October 2022, the plant allegedly came under Russian jurisdiction and is a Russian nuclear facility.
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