Concerns mounted after Britain’s Defense Ministry echoed accusations by the Ukrainian military that Russian forces are using Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant to fire at military positions across the Dnieper River, but Western officials have downplayed the danger.
Russian forces are likely to be operating in the regions adjacent to the power station and have used artillery units in these areas to attack Ukrainian territory on the western bank of the Dnipro River,” the British Ministry of Defense (MOD) said in its latest update on the situation in Ukraine.
“Russian forces have likely used the larger area of the facilities, particularly the adjacent town of Enerhodar, to rest their troops, taking advantage of the nuclear power plant’s protected status to reduce the risk to their equipment and personnel from nighttime Ukrainian attacks.” Reduce.”
The defense ministry’s assessment echoes allegations made by the mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, who said in late July that Russia was using the factory as a fortress. “They (Russian forces) know very well that the Ukrainian armed forces will not respond to these attacks because they could damage the nuclear power plant,” Orlov told Ukrainian broadcaster Espreso TV.
A mixed picture: On Thursday, Western officials downplayed the likelihood of heavy fighting in and around the nuclear power plant.
“Russia could use the site as a safe zone from which to conduct defensive operations. Ukraine will consider very carefully how to avoid major risks around the site,” the officials said.
“The area of the site itself of the nuclear power plant is too small to be very significant in terms of progress. It can always be surrounded or bypassed by Ukraine,” the officials added. “It’s a consideration and something people should be careful about in their planning, but it won’t prevent an advance in any way.”
The Defense Department’s concerns come after International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general Rafael Grossi told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the situation at the plant was “completely out of control”.
Grossi said he tried to put together a mission, with the support of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, to visit the factory, but explained that actually going was a “very complex matter” because “it understanding and cooperation” from the Ukrainians and the Russians occupying it.
Some background: Russia seized the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, in the early days of the war on March 5. A week later, on March 12, a team of officials and technicians from the Russian state nuclear service, ROSATOM, arrived on the scene. to help manage the plant and assist with repairs, Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energoatom said.
The situation at the factory has remained complex ever since, with Ukrainian and Russian employees working side by side. Communications between the factory and the IAEA have been interrupted.
Military operations in the area, with an announced Ukrainian counter-offensive to take Kherson, have made the situation even more unstable, the IAEA said.
While Western officials understand some of the IAEA’s concerns, “they don’t think” [the situation] is as dire as it is necessarily painted in the media at this point.”
The officials further explained that factories like the one in Zaporizhzhya are built with multiple safeguards. “So please don’t think we’re looking at the Chernobyl situation, that’s not the case,” officials said. “We think the conditions of that site are still good overall.”
DailyExpertNews has contacted Rosatom for comment, but has not heard anything yet.
