Russians threaten to blow up Zaporizhzhia NPP, says Energoatom

Russian occupiers claim to have mined the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and threaten to blow up the facility, according to Energoatom, the plant's operator.

The press service of the enterprise refers to the statement of the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense forces of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Vasiliev.

He declared that the station would be "either Russian land or a scorched desert." According to the invader, the Russian military has no other way but to blow up the station.

"And if there is the toughest order, we must fulfill it with honor," said the Russian general.

The representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense Andriy Yusov confirmed the day before that the Russians had mined the power units of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Intelligence calls such actions "nuclear blackmail".

Russian outlet The Insider, referring to its source, earlier wrote that the Russians likely had mined the machine room of one of the power units of the ZNPP. And according to another source of the publication, the area around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was also mined.

Background

After the occupiers attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on August 5, the power unit there was turned off. As of the morning of August 6, the ZNPP was operating with the risk of violating radiation and fire safety standards.

Energoatom said that as a result of the attack, the nitrogen-oxygen station and the combined auxiliary building were seriously damaged. There are also risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high.

In addition, the Russian military "hid" in the basements of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — they occupied all the basements where they hide from shelling. Regional governor Oleksandr Starukh said that after two power lines were damaged as a result of the Russians' attack on the ZNPP, a fire broke out, which was extinguished by employees of the State Emergency Service.

In addition, on August 6, Russian troops again launched missile strikes on the site of the ZNPP. They hit near the station's dry spent nuclear fuel storage facility (SSFFU). One of the employees of the station was injured.

During a conversation with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the introduction of additional sanctions against Russia for the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.