Russia rigs ZNPP reactor buildings with explosives – AFU
ZNPP in September, 2012 (Photo:REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko)
Foreign objects “resembling explosive devices”
have been placed on the outer roof of the third and fourth reactor buildings of
the occupied Zaporizhzhya
Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Facebook
post on July 4.
The message suggests that Russia is preparing to stage a provocation or a false flag operation at the facility in near future.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces believe that their detonation cannot damage the reactors themselves, but can be used to accuse Ukraine of shelling the power plant. The General Staff also noted that Russian media and Telegram channels are actively spreading disinformation about an “imminent” Ukrainian attack on ZNPP.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine do not violate the norms of international humanitarian law; (we) monitor and control the situation, and are ready to act under any conditions,” the statement said.
“No enemy provocation will succeed.”
Ukrainian intelligence also reports that Russians have started spreading fake media reports media about a planned Ukrainian drone strike on the Zaporizhzhya NPP on the night of July 5.
Ukrainian Military Intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov commented to Channel 24 that "Russian propaganda's new injection regarding the situation at the Zaporizhzhya NPP is primitive and deceitful disinformation."
Ukrainian officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have repeatedly warned that Russia could stage an attack on the ZNPP to seize the initiative in the war, as in recent weeks Moscow’s troops remain locked in defending against Ukraine’s unfolding counteroffensive.
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