MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. Russian forces deliver preventive strikes at the positions of Ukrainian troops when they try to shell the Zaporozhye nuclear power plants, Vladimir Rogov, leader of the We Are Together with Russia movement, said on Monday.
"Ukrainian troops are not shelling (the Zaporozhye NPP - TASS) because they cannot do it. Our troops deliver preventive strikes as soon as the Ukrainian side tries to deploy a HIMARS system or an artillery unit," he said in an interview with Radio of Russia.
According to Rogov, Ukrainian forces sustain big losses after Russia’s preventive strikes.
The Zaporozhye NPP, located in the city of Energodar, has a capacity of 6 GW and is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Russian forces took control of the plant in late February 2022 and ever since, the Ukrainian army has been periodically shelling its territory, as well as Energodar’s residential quarters with the use of drones, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers.
According to Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the head of Russia’s Rosenergoatom nuclear power engineering company, Ukrainian troops open sporadic fire at Energodar’s industrial zone and coastline but no shelling attacks on the nuclear power plant have been staged since the beginning of the year. However, in his words, "anything can be expected" from Ukraine.