MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. No heavy Russian weapons are being deployed at or near the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov reported on Thursday.

"We want to make it clear that Russian troops have no heavy weapons deployed either at the power plant or in areas adjacent to it," he affirmed.

Konashenkov said the nuclear plant was guarded only by security patrols. "The Russian armed forces are taking all the necessary measures to guarantee the security of the Zaporozhye NPP," he emphasized.

He recalled that Ukraine’s leadership had repeatedly alleged that Russian troops had occupied the nuclear power plant and had been attacking it with long-range artillery using the nuclear facility as a shield.