Ukraine is expected to launch a large-scale attack on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) overnight, a senior Russian atomic energy industry official warned late on Tuesday. Kiev may also strike the plant with a missile stuffed with radioactive waste, he added.
The warning was voiced by Renat Karchaa, a senior aide to the head of Rosenergoatom, a subsidiary to Russia’s state-owned atomic energy giant Rosatom. The official cited intelligence data received by the industry.
“On July 5, literally overnight, while it’s still dark, Ukrainian forces will attempt an attack on the Zaporozhye plant with long-range high-precision munitions, as well as suicide drones,” he told Rossiya 24 TV channel.
Kiev is also expected to attempt a strike on the plant with a heavy, Soviet-made Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile, Karchaa went on. The munition has been filled with radioactive waste collected from the South-Ukrainian nuclear power plant, the official claimed.
While Karchaa did not elaborate, the apparent goal of the secondary attack is to cause an uptick in radioactivity readings in the region should the main launch fail to damage the facility enough to cause the release of hazardous materials into the air.
The ZNPP was seized by Moscow from Ukraine early into the ongoing conflict, getting formally transferred under Rosatom management as the Zaporozhye region became incorporated into Russia after a referendum. Both Moscow and Kiev have repeatedly accused each other of subjecting the Russian-controlled facility to artillery fire and drone strikes.
The rhetoric around the plant escalated in recent weeks, with the top Ukrainian official repeatedly claiming Moscow had been preparing a nuclear incident at the ZNPP. President Vladimir Zelensky, for instance, said Moscow wanted to cause a “radiation leakage” at the plant, while his aide Mikhail Podoliak accused Russia of placing mines in the plant’s cooling pond.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called the claims by Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials “yet another lie” coming from Kiev, stressing that Moscow remains in close cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The UN watchdog’s boss, Rafael Mariano Grossi, visited the facility recently and disputed Ukraine’s allegations, stating in his report that “no mines were observed at the site during the director general’s visit, including the cooling pond.” The danger to the ZNPP has also been questioned by the White House, with National Security Council spokesman John Kirby saying last week that Washington has not “seen any indication that that threat is imminent.”
The Russian occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was disconnected from its last external power line early on July 4, and now uses a recently restored back-up power supply, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on its website.
Ukraine turned off the 750 kilovolt Dnieper line early Tuesday, Renat Karchaa, an adviser to Rosenergoatom, a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom, said on Russian state television channel Rossiya-24.
The ZNPP lost its connection with the last 750 kilovolt (kV) power line remaining — out of four available before the war. The incident occurred at 1:21 am LOCAL TIME on July 4.
The reasons for the power cut weren't immediately clear and the IAEA says it is unknown how long it will last.
A day earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to the only available backup power line, but that the situation remained “extremely fragile.”
“The ZNPP’s connection to the single remaining 330 kilovolt (kV) power line – out of six such backup lines before the conflict – was cut on 1 March due to damage sustained on the other side of the Dnipro River and restored in the evening of 1 July,” an IAEA statement said.
As of now, the sole power source that the plant can rely on is a 330 kV back-up power line for off-site electricity used, for example, for pumping cooling water for the plant's power units.
Ukraine's military says that Russia placed "objects resembling explosives" today, July 4, on the 3rd and 4th power units of the Zaporizhzia nuclear power plant:
Russian Telegram social media channels claim that tomorrow, Ukraine will launch a missile and drone attack on the Zaporozhzia Nuclear Power Plant.
They even allege knowledge of particular planning details. Here is one such Telegram Posting (Machine auto-translated):
If that nuclear power plant is attacked, and if the attack causes a radiation leak, NATO may declare the radiation leak to be "an attack upon NATO" and try to invoke Article 5 of the NATO Treaty which requires "collective self defense."
If NATO declares Article 5 against Russia, the Russians have already said they know that NATO Conventional Forces are superior to Russia, but reminded everyone that Russia is also a Nuclear Power. They then also said that many of Russia's nuclear weapons are far superior to those of NATO, and warned they "will use all the weapons they have to defend Russia against NATO.
Just this past weekend, Russian Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council (Senate) Dmitry Medvedev, warned that the actions of the West and Ukraine "Have brought the whole world to the brink of World War. If world war breaks out, "there will be no winner -- there will be a nuclear winter . . ."
If the ZNPP gets attacked, and radiation leaks, NATO enters the war and Russia uses its nukes. We __could__ be at war within HOURS of this story being published at 3:16 PM eastern US time on July 4, 2023.
Ukraine has been LOSING the war very badly to Russia and Ukraine's ONLY HOPE is if they cause an incident that draws NATO into the fight, on the side of Ukraine. It now appears that Ukraine is playing its final card, attacking the nuclear power plant to BLAME ON RUSSIA, and draw NATO into the war.
No comments:
Post a Comment