MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. On Friday, August 19, Kiev is planning to stage a highly publicized false flag at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant during UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ visit to Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Thursday.

"On August 19, the Kiev regime will be plotting a highly publicized provocation at the Zaporozhye NPP during UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ visit to Ukraine with Russia being accused of creating a man-made catastrophe at this power plant as a result," he warned.

Kiev’s scheme

"In order to prepare for the provocation, the command of the Dnieper task force is setting up radiation monitoring posts in Zaporozhye by August 19 as well as organizing drills among the units of the 108th territorial defense brigade, the 44th artillery brigade and the military units stationed in Zaporozhye for action under conditions of radiological contamination of the area," the spokesman stressed.

He said that the units of the 44th brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces are planning artillery strikes on the NPP’s premises from firing points in the city of Nikopol. "The blame for their consequences will be laid on Russia’s armed forces," the military official affirmed.

He added that the units of the 704th Regiment of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Protection of Ukraine’s armed forces are getting ready to concentrate in the vicinity of the Zaporozhye NPP by August 19 in order to record the consequences of the provocation plotted by Kiev and demonstrate the supposed clean-up of the accident’s aftermath.

Russian army's actions

Konashenkov stressed that there were no Russian heavy weapons on the Zaporozhye plant’s premises or on any adjacent territories. "Russian troops have no heavy weapons deployed either at the power plant or in areas adjacent to it," he affirmed, reiterating that Kiev repeatedly spread rumors that Russian troops had allegedly occupied the power plant and were shelling the adversary using long-range artillery systems under the NPP’s cover.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation are taking all the necessary measures to guarantee the security of the Zaporozhye NPP," he stressed.