Image Credit: The Washington Post / Contributor / Getty 
On Thursday it was reported that the Russian spy agency, the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), claimed that some of Europe’s NATO members are urging Kiev to commit an act of sabotage on the Zaporozhye (also spelled Zaporizhzhia) nuclear power plant, which is located in Ukraine but has been under the control of Russia since 2022. The resulting nuclear disaster would then be blamed on Russia to elicit a global condemnation of Moscow.
The spy agency said that one proposal put forward by Ukraine’s Western enablers would result in significant civilian casualties. That proposal was deemed to be the most effective option.
The allegedly-planned act of sabotage is intended to cause a meltdown of a reactor core, releasing enormous amounts of deadly radiation into Ukraine, the nation which hosted what is perhaps the most famous nuclear reactor meltdown – the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which was an accident.
“The SVR stated that British NGO Chatham House has already calculated the consequences of such an accident and determined that residents of Kiev-controlled territories and EU countries near the Ukrainian western border would be in the area of radioactive particle dispersion,” RT said.
According to the SVR, Chatham House noted that “the most challenging aspect of implementing such a plot is determining how to attribute responsibility for the catastrophe to Russia.”
Allegedly, Chatham House is already preparing arguments for all possible developments of the false flag attack, so as to ensure the Western public “unequivocally takes Kiev’s side” in determining who is responsible for the accident, the SVR has claimed.
“The collective West is once again ready to deceive and even to kill Ukrainians and citizens of the Western countries in order to attribute the crimes of the Kiev regime to Russia and to justify its Russophobic policy and efforts to incite the war,” the SVR said.
The nuclear power plant’s official website paints a dire picture of the current state of the facility:
The latest disturbing events occurred near the Zaporizhzhia NPP are evident danger that cannot leave indifferent not only Ukraine, but also all of Europe. Fires around the plant, shelling of the ZNPP Offsite Emergency Response Centre located in Zaporizhzhia city, caused by deliberate actions of the occupiers, difficulties with cooling water supply for ZNPP reactors, directly threaten to the largest nuclear facility in Europe.
It should be recalled that on August 10, because of the russian attack on Zaporizhzhia, the ZNPP Offsite Emergency Response Centre was in the firing line. It is an integral part of the plant safety system and a key structure for monitoring the radiation situation within the plant surveillance area on the territory controlled by Ukraine. This confirms that the aggressor disregards international norms and threatens not only Ukraine, but also the world.
A particular danger is fires around the plant. The recent fire of dry reed grass on the site of the destroyed Kakhovka reservoir, as well as other incidents, including a large-scale fire in 2024 occurred in the cooling tower of the service water supply system, are obvious problems of the lack of proper management and safety at the plant.
After more than three years of occupation, the technical condition of the plant equipment is deteriorating. The decrease in the water level in the cooling pond due to the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP is a threat to stable operation of the reactor cooling systems. In fact, even in the “cold shutdown” state of the power units, the nuclear fuel in the reactors requires heat removal, and this is accomplished through the water cooling system.
The IAEA has already responded to the situation, in particular, in the latest statement by Director General Rafael Grossi it is stressed that there are growing difficulties in ensuring a reliable supply of cooling water for the plant six reactors and their safety systems.
The actions of the occupiers once again demonstrate their irresponsible attitude and barbarism towards the plant operation; it poses risks for the radiation and nuclear safety of the entire European region.
In September Kiev attempted to strike the Kursk II nuclear power plant with a drone.
Embed from Getty ImagesZAPORIZHZHIA, UKRAINE – AUGUST 11: (—-EDITORIAL USE ONLY – MANDATORY CREDIT – UKRAINIAN PRESIDENCY / HANDOUT’ – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS—-) A screen grab from a video released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shows a fire broke in Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on August 11, 2024. A fire broke out Sunday in Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, located in southern Ukraine, with Ukraine and Russia trading blame over the incident. ‘Six units in the power plant are in cold shutdown, there is no explosion or other danger,’ the Russian-installed regional governor of Zaporizhzhia, Yevgeny Balitsky, said in a written statement. (Photo by Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Zaporozhye is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, consists of six pressurized light water reactors and is located in South East Ukraine.
Embed from Getty ImagesANKARA, TURKIYE – AUGUST 12: An infographic titled “Fire breaks out in Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant”created in Ankara, Turkiye on August 12, 2024. (Photo by Yasin Demirci/Anadolu via Getty Images)
In February, just days after Russia claimed Ukraine is planning false flag terror attacks and two days after peaceful talks began in earnest between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a drone bombed the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, which Ukraine claimed was done by Russia and Russia had denied, accusing Ukraine for the attack.
