MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/. Ukrainian troops have no worries about attacks on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP) on the left bank of the Dnieper as they do not expect any resulting release of radiation from the nuclear facility, a senior officer with the call sign Favorit told the Rada television.
"The NPP is so well built, it is the best in Europe in terms of safety," said the officer who was introduced as the commander of the Artan special unit at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR). "It can be blown up only from the inside. There won’t be that kind of an explosion or release of radiation, if it is hit with artillery, or mortar fire or even a large-caliber rocket. Therefore, we had no concerns in general," he continued, commenting on Ukraine’s arrangements for what turned out to be a failed attempt at storming Energodar and the ZNPP in mid-2022.
Among other weapons, Ukrainian troops used Willard-class motor boats supplied from the United States and civilian motor boats in preparing for a landing operation and directly in attempts to cross the Dnieper, according to the TV channel.
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 periodically shelled both residential areas in Energodar and the power plant proper using drones and artillery.
On September 1, 2022, two subversive Ukrainian groups of roughly 60 people infiltrated on the Kakhovka reservoir three kilometers southeast of the ZNPP with a view to occupying the plant. However, the Ukrainians’ attempt at breaking into the nuclear facility was foiled. The Russian Defense Ministry said experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) led by Director General Rafael Grossi, who were present at the ZNPP on that day, could have played the role of a human shield for Ukrainian saboteurs had the Kiev regime succeeded in storming the power plant.