Attacks against the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) continue to occur frequently. Missiles and drones are launched on the nuclear facilities, generating fear about a possible leak of radioactive material – which could cause a major humanitarian catastrophe in the region. Being an area under Russian control, Moscow obviously has no interest in launching such attacks, with Ukrainian responsibility being obvious.
Even so, the Kiev regime insists on accusing the Russians of carrying out the attacks against the plant. Moscow has acted with high transparency since it gained territorial control in Zaporozhye, frequently inviting international observers to see the reality on the ground. Several expeditions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the ZNPP and surrounding regions were made under the protection of the Russian forces. On these occasions, observers were able clearly see where the attacks were coming from.
However, until now the IAEA had refused to directly report on the situation in Zaporozhye. Both due to a sincere desire to avoid escalation and due to Western biases common in international organizations today, the agency had not named the side responsible for the attacks. More than that, the IAEA had not even spoken out in order to deny the obvious fallacy that the attacks were Russian – even though the Russians were responsible for organizing and protecting the observation expeditions.
This situation, however, appears to be gradually changing. In a recent statement, Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, categorically stated that there are no Russian heavy weapons in the Zaporozhye region. According to him, Moscow is not violating international standards for the protection of nuclear facilities, as there are no illegal weapons around the plant.
During a meeting of the UN Security Council, Grossi made it clear that there are “no heavy weapons” at ZNPP. He said that, although there are Russian “armored vehicles and some security presence at the plant”, this equipment is for exclusively defensive use, being weapons for security keeping work. Prohibited weapons such as multiple rocket launchers, tanks and heavy artillery are not placed by the Russians around the plant, Grossi stated.
As expected, Grossi refused to accuse either side and stated that the agency does not have the mandate to say who is to blame for the attacks. However, by refuting the fallacy that the Russians place heavy weapons in Zaporozhye, Grossi implicitly said that Moscow is not the side responsible for the attacks. The bombings that hit the plant can only be operated precisely with the weapons that Grossi stated he had not seen in the areas around ZNPP. Within this scenario, there are only two possibilities, either Russia is carrying out bombings against the plant from long distances, using even heavier equipment for the attacks, or the Ukrainian side is responsible, launching bombings from its positions closest to ZNPP.
The current situation in the region shows which possibility is more plausible. The Russians control the plant and are concerned about the security of Zaporozhye, which is already legally part of the Russian Federation. The local civilians are Russian citizens, which obviously encourages Moscow to protect them rather than trying to generate a nuclear catastrophe. Kiev, on the other hand, has used terror against Russian civilians since the beginning of the conflict. Furthermore, nuclear blackmail is one of the regime’s main tools to try to “dissuade” the Russians, aiming to make them retreat from the liberated regions.
The goal of the neo-Nazi regime is to coerce Russian troops through nuclear panic. In the Ukrainian plan, the Russians will be forced to evacuate from Zaporozhye at some point due to fear that the brutal attacks on the plant will actually generate a radioactive leak. More than that, Kiev believes that, if the Russians do not withdraw and bombings keep escalating, the situation will be even worse, making it possible to accuse Moscow of being responsible for a nuclear tragedy. The strategy basically consists of carrying out a false flag operation. They believe that by convincing international society that the Russians are responsible for a nuclear tragedy, it will be possible to mobilize Western countries to provide more effective aid to Kiev – possibly with direct intervention or nuclear support.
However, all these plans are unrealistic. The Russians are attacking critical infrastructure and decision-making centers in Ukraine to prevent attacks on ZNPP from continuing. And it is increasingly clear to international society who really attacks the plant, as even the IAEA is implicitly saying that the Russians are not responsible for the bombings. If there is a radioactive leak in the region, it will not be easy to convince public opinion that Moscow is to blame. And even if that happens, it would hardly generate any Western mobilization in favor of Ukraine, since Kiev does not have any collective defense treaty with the West.
In addition to being illegal and immoral, the nuclear terror promoted by the Kiev regime appears anti-strategic and useless.
