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West setting stage for false nuclear terrorism charges against Moscow — Russian official

According to Renat Karchaa, the West is calculating on a false flag incident that the Ukrainian side may stage at the ZNPP to give it legal grounds to interfere directly in the conflict in Ukraine

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. The US-led Western countries backing Kiev are deliberately working to paint Russia as a country engaged in nuclear terrorism so as to pin the blame on Moscow for potential false flags at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Renat Karchaa, advisor to the CEO of Russian state nuclear power corporation Rosenergoatom, told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

On June 23, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said at a UN Security Council meeting that Moscow was highly concerned about Kiev’s increasingly shrill allegations that Russia is booby-trapping the ZNPP.

"It’s no longer enough for them [the West and the US] to damage Russia’s reputation. Now, they are seeking to accuse us of nuclear terrorism so they can then step forward [portraying themselves as] saviors of the world. <…> Their goal is to set the stage and fashion an image [from whole cloth] of Russia as a country that engages in nuclear terrorism," Karchaa noted.

According to him, the West is calculating on a false flag incident that the Ukrainian side may stage at the ZNPP to give it legal grounds to interfere directly in the conflict in Ukraine. Karchaa said that Russia was taking comprehensive measures to ensure security at the facility and the nearby area "within Russia’s authority."

The six-reactor, six-gigawatt Zaporozhye NPP, located in the city of 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 (MLRS).