SIMFEROPOL, October 4. /TASS/. Russia has sent a message to Western countries about the need to create legal mechanisms to prevent attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), making it clear that the Kiev authorities will be held accountable for their actions, nuclear energy expert Renat Karchaa told TASS.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated earlier that Moscow could give a tit-for-tat response to the Ukrainian military’s attacks on the ZNPP.
"All nuclear power plants in Ukraine are within the range of Russian weapons, but the president’s words should not be taken as a threat. It was a clear message to the so-called collective West about the need to create effective legal mechanisms to prevent [attacks] and ensure accountability for what the Ukrainian armed forces are doing, which is nothing but acts of nuclear terrorism," said Karchaa, who serves as advisor to Crimea’s head and is also a member of the Zaporozhye Region’s legislative assembly.
According to him, since 2022, Ukraine has been creating direct nuclear security threats by carrying out attacks on the ZNPP. "The subsequent expression of concern and alarm by the UN and the IAEA don’t change the situation," Karchaa added. Moreover, in his words, international organizations have been failing to say clearly who was behind the attacks.
"The thought that we could start generating electricity at the ZNPP to use it in Russia is driving the Ukrainian regime mad. The Russian president’s remark was a warning to these mad people and their handlers," Karchaa noted.
On September 23, Ukrainian shelling damaged the last external power line supplying the ZNPP, forcing the plant to switch to diesel generators. This marked the tenth such incident since the outbreak of the conflict. Repair work on the line remains impossible due to continued shelling, but the cooling of nuclear fuel in storage pools and reactors is being maintained in full. The situation is under control, with sufficient diesel reserves to ensure long-term autonomous operation of the generators.