MELITOPOL, May 10. /TASS/. The Ukrainian state-owned company Energoatom’s statement about additional Russian troops and military equipment stationed in the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) area is aimed at creating an excuse to try to seize the facility, Chairman of the We Stand With Russia movement Vladimir Rogov told TASS on Wednesday.
Energoatom, the nuclear power plant’s former operator, said on Tuesday that the situation at the facility continued to "worsen" following the deployment of additional Russian troops to the area.
"I have no doubt that under certain circumstances, the Ukrainian armed forces will try to cross the Dnieper, create a springboard and seize the ZNPP. Clearly, they see the plant’s security service as an obstacle. They are trying to justify their provocation by blaming everything on Russia. Earlier, reports came about explosives laid on the roof of the plant’s fourth building, which turned out to be untrue," Rogov pointed out.
Energoatom said on May 4 that Russian forces had allegedly deployed military equipment, weapons and explosives in the turbine hall of the Zaporozhye NPP’s fourth power unit.
"It’s either nothing but information noise or information noise aimed at covering up preparations for a provocation against the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky’s regime needs to explain its actions; it’s not that he personally has to explain anything but Western politicians need to provide explanations to their voters. This is why pictures and stories about Russians being to blame for it all fit well into this paradigm," Rogov noted, commenting on Energoatom’s statements.
The six-reactor, six-gigawatt Zaporozhye NPP, located in Energodar, is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russian forces took control of the facility in late February 2022. Since then, the Ukrainian army has been shelling both the residential areas of Energodar and the power plant’s premises using drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems.