The Russian-appointed leadership of the Zaporizhzhya NPP extended the Ukrainian employees of the station the weekend. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, this can be done in order to disconnect the station from the Ukrainian power grid. At the same time, some representatives of Rosatom were returned to the station.
"The so-called" output to zero ". In this case, the station will remain without power for a certain period of time. Emergency power supply will be provided by diesel substations. This creates a potential danger, as the likelihood of critical situations increases, which seems to be the main goal of the deliberate actions of the Russian military at the Ukrainian nuclear facility, ”the agency said in a statement.
According to intelligence data, the Russian contingent and Russian equipment still remain at the nuclear power plant.
Earlier, CNN confirmed the authenticity of a video published on social networks with Russian trucks in the engine room of the Zaporozhye NPP. A 30-second video appeared on social networks on August 18. You can see about five trucks on it, one of which has the letter Z on it. CNN journalists found out that the video was filmed in one of the six engine rooms of the nuclear power plant. Who and when made this recording is unknown.
Also at the disposal of The Insider came across a video in which Russian military trucks drive into the territory of the nuclear power plant and unload some kind of cargo. The truck convoy arrived on 2 August. According to sources of the publication, we can talk about mining the area around the nuclear power plant. They also noted that about 500 Russian soldiers and military equipment, including armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft installations and equipment for radiochemical reconnaissance, are at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
On August 18, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were preparing a "resonant provocation" at the nuclear power plant when UN Secretary General António Guterres came to visit the country. Allegedly, the 44th artillery brigade from the city of Nikopol will strike at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on August 19. The representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov, also accused Ukraine of “rumors” that Russia had occupied a nuclear power plant in order to fire at the Armed Forces of Ukraine from long-range artillery systems, and added that the Russian military did not have “heavy weapons either on the territory of the plant or in the adjacent areas to it."
On August 11, the Ukrainian “Energoatom” accused Russia of shelling the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, and Vladimir Rogov, a member of the pro-Russian “administration” of the Zaporozhye region, blamed Ukraine. On August 5, Russia fired several times at the Zaporizhzhya NPP from multiple launch rocket systems, again blaming the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Ukrainian "Energoatom" reported that after the strikes, emergency protection worked, and called what was happening "nuclear terrorism by Russia."
Zaporozhye NPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, located in the city of Energodar. Since March, it has been under the control of Russian troops. The UN called on Russia to withdraw troops from the nuclear power plant and create a "safe demilitarization perimeter" there. The pro-Russian "administration" of the Zaporozhye region proposed to introduce a regime of silence around the object.
