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Sabotage at ZNPP a real threat from Kiev — Kremlin

Renat Karchaa, advisor to the CEO of Russia's state nuclear power corporation Rosenergoatom, said earlier that the Ukrainian military intended to attack the power plant with long-range, high-precision weapons and drones

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. The situation around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is tense amid a high risk of acts of sabotage by the Kiev regime, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"The situation is quite tense because the risk of acts of sabotage by the Kiev regime is really high," he pointed out. "Such acts of sabotage could have devastating consequences," Peskov said.

The Kremlin spokesman noted that Kiev "has repeatedly demonstrated its penchant for not shying away from anything." "We saw evidence of that just recently, when the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant was blown up, which led to disastrous consequences. That is why everything is being done to counter this threat," Peskov added.

Renat Karchaa, advisor to the CEO of Russia's state nuclear power corporation Rosenergoatom, said earlier that the Ukrainian military intended to attack the power plant with long-range, high-precision weapons and drones. Additionally, in his words, the Ukrainian armed forces may employ munitions filled with radioactive waste removed from the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant on July 3. A back-up plan, involving the use of a high-precision Tochka-U missile armed with a warhead filled with radioactive waste, may also be put into effect, Karchaa said, citing information available to him.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky accused Russia of allegedly plotting a terrorist attack on the Zaporozhye NPP. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov slammed Zelensky’s allegation as yet another lie. Karchaa, in turn, said that the Ukrainian leader’s statement could serve as proof of Kiev’s preparations for an attack on the ZNPP, which would ultimately be aimed at dragging NATO further into the Ukrainian conflict.

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. According to him, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission that recently visited the facility could see for themselves the utter absurdity of such allegations.

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