A Warning : The Russian Federation, which occupies the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, is Planning to Blow Up the Facility
Credible sources from Ukraine are warning us : Adrian Ivakhiv writes; source ; https://blog.uvm.edu/aivakhiv-ukrtaz/2023/07/05/zaporizhzhia-npp-warnings/
Zaporizhzhia NPP warnings
Here’s my read of what’s going on with all the recent warnings surrounding the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP).
All signs point to a Russian plan to do something with or at the plant — something that could potentially contaminate a large portion of Ukrainian territory and decommission at least part of the ZNPP (so that Ukrainians wouldn’t be able to use it or the land around it) — and that would have enough ambiguity around it as to allow Russian “deniability.”
The ZNPP is the largest such plant in Europe, and is currently, though barely, on the Russian controlled side of Ukrainian territory. As Ukrainian forces advance, Russia does not expect to hold onto it. As with the Kakhovka dam explosion, Russia will continue to blame Ukraine. Their propaganda players have been ratcheting up the “Ukrainian false flag” narratives for days (have a look at responses to Zelenskyi’s recent Twitter post warning of a potential Russian explosion at the ZNPP to see what that looks like).
The reality-check question here is: who would benefit from any ZNPP disaster and who would lose out? It is Ukrainian land, which Ukrainians expect to gain back and Russians expect (at this point) to lose. Furthermore, it has been historically significant Ukrainian land going back to the 17th century Cossack state, which Ukrainians consider an early progenitor of Ukrainian democracy. (As I and many have been arguing, culture and history are important in this neocolonial/anti-colonial struggle.)
Just as Russia hardly cares for its own conscripts, it doesn’t give a damn about Ukrainian land. Quite the contrary: Putin’s goal all along has been to either take over Ukraine, denying it the right to exist as an independent state (except perhaps as a minimal rump state in western-central Ukraine), or to take some of it “back” and prevent the rest from posing any challenge to his rule. An economically successful democracy at his doorstep, that would demonstrate to Russians that they need not accept his rule, would be the kind of “challenge” he has in mind.
Russia’s unstated precondition for “returning” militarily conquered land is that it will destroy its value for Ukrainians, with the message being “You want this back? Here, have it, it’s yours and it’s useless.” (This is what I recently described as Russia’s “colonial vengeance” for Ukraine’s decolonial trajectory.)
How likely is it that something serious will occur? Before February 24, 2022, hardly anyone thought it was likely that Russia will launch a full-scale invasion, but they did. So I would say that all bets are off. We hope it doesn’t happen, but if it does, it won’t be unexpected.
How do we prevent it? The only way I can think of is through making clear why this is consistent with Russian strategies, and through putting international pressure on Russia not to do it.
Other warnings :
Ukraine Armed Forces : The Armed Forces of Ukraine officially inform about the possible preparation, in the near future, of a provocation on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been occupied by Russian terrorists since March 4, 2022. https://twitter.com/pravda_eng/status/1676273832464719879?s=20
British Journalist Paul Mason : It could not be clearer. Western failure to attribute Nova Kakhovka dam attack, plus US fears of triggering regime collapse are letting Russia prepare a nihilistic end-game at Zaporizhzhia NPP… Ukraine said it. Are you listening?
An online petition has been started. We can only hope that a catastrophe can be prevented. We can not say we have not been warned :
Why this petition matters
Started by Zaporizhzhia Task Force
Ukraine is warning that Russia has planted mines in the cooling pools of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)also warns that as a result of Russia destroying the Nova Kakhovka dam, the nuclear plant has about two months of water for those cooling pools. We are especially alarmed at recent reports that Russia has started removing staff and soldiers from the plant. A loss of water in the cooling pools – whether due to Russia’s criminal neglect or to intentional sabotage – could result in the spent fuel rods burning. If that happens, depending on the number of spent fuel rods and how densely packed they are, the release and spread of radiation could be worse than the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.
We must act now to stop this potential nuclear disaster which could take place at any time.
António Guterres, General Secretary of the United Nations must speak up on this issue immediately.
We call on the United Nations General Assembly to establish a demilitarized zone around the plant immediately, as they did in 1956 to halt the conflict in the Suez Canal.
We urge individuals and organizations to organize public protests to bring attention to this crisis and demand that the United Nations General Assembly act now to prevent a catastrophe.
Daniel McLaughlin’s Report from the Irish Times (July 5 2023) :
Nuclear experts seek full access to Ukraine atomic plant amid security fears
Kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of risking radiation leak at Russian-occupied facility
International nuclear inspectors have said they need more access to a Russian-occupied atomic power plant in Ukraine to fully verify claims that Moscow’s troops could have mined it, as Kyiv and the Kremlin accused each other of risking a disaster at the facility.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that “Russian troops have placed objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Perhaps to simulate an attack on the plant. Perhaps they have some other scenario.
“The only source of danger to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is Russia and no one else … It is the responsibility of everyone in the world to stop it, no one can stand aside, as radiation affects everyone,” he added, referring to the six-reactor site in southeastern Ukraine that is the biggest such facility in Europe.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded: “The situation is quite tense because there is indeed a great threat of sabotage by the Kyiv regime, which could be catastrophic in its consequences …Therefore, all measures are being taken to counter such a threat.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has inspectors at the facility and has called in vain for the creation of a safety zone there, amid shelling that Russia and Ukraine blame on each other and which has repeatedly disrupted electricity supply to the site.
The IAEA said on Wednesday that its experts “have in recent days and weeks inspected parts of the facility — including some sections of the perimeter of the large cooling pond — and have also conducted regular walk-downs across the site, so far without observing any visible indications of mines or explosives.
“The IAEA experts have requested additional access that is necessary to confirm the absence of mines or explosives at the site … In particular, access to the rooftops of reactor units 3 and 4 is essential, as well as access to parts of the turbine halls and some parts of the cooling system at the plant,” the agency added.
IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said: “With military tension and activities increasing in the region where this major nuclear power plant is located, our experts must be able to verify the facts on the ground.”
Kyiv’s counteroffensive
Kyiv says Russian forces are prepared to cause a radiation leak at the plant to trigger an emergency that would prompt calls for Ukraine to halt its counteroffensive, which is aimed in part at liberating occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia province.
Ukraine accuses Moscow’s troops of destroying the Kakhovka dam last month to flood swathes of Kherson region and hamper the counteroffensive in that area. The Kremlin blames Kyiv’s forces for that disaster, but experts say it would have been almost impossible to cause such a catastrophic breach of the Russian-held dam from outside.
Heavy fighting continued along the front line on Wednesday, and Ukraine released footage of what it said was an enormous explosion at a Russian ammunition depot in the occupied town of Makiivka in the eastern Donetsk region. Russia claimed it was a strike on a residential area that killed one person and injured 38 others, without explaining what caused the scale of the blast and numerous secondary explosions.
Tomás Ó Flatharta 
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