Ukraine: Russia has repeatedly expressed concern that the Ukrainian side has targeted the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in an effort to stage a provocative event and pin the blame for a nuclear disaster on Moscow. According to Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional administration, Kiev has cut off the last transmission line from the Zaporozhye NPP to Ukraine, making it impossible to deliver energy to Ukraine at this time.
Authorities also noted that the NPP is operating normally and that power is delivered to the areas liberated by Russian forces. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the Zaporozhye NPP, has six VVER-1000 pressurised light water reactors that can generate a combined 5,700 MWe of electricity.
Russia has repeatedly warned that Ukraine is preparing to attack the NPP under false pretences in an effort to establish an exclusion zone around the facility that could extend up to 18 miles (30 kilometres) and prompt the deployment of outside forces. Moscow observed that Kiev attacks the NPP while attempting to blame Russia for any significant catastrophe.
The facility was twice targeted by the Ukrainian military in the last day alone using a British-made M777 howitzer, which Russian forces discovered and destroyed. Heavy artillery shelling of the area around the plant by Ukraine in recent weeks has sparked accusations of nuclear terrorism from Russia and local authorities. At the same time, Kiev asserts that Russian forces are attacking the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), despite the fact that the facility is in an area that Russia has controlled since March.
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