Against the background of military failures in Ukraine, the Kremlin uses nuclear blackmail. Russia deliberately shelled the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, creating an unprecedented risk of the largest man-made disaster since 1986. Having made sure that Europe did not flinch in the face of this challenge, Russia has announced its intention to close the ZNPP, de-energizing a quarter of the territory of Ukraine.
Putin is using nuclear terrorism to threaten Europe with the biggest man-made disaster since 1986 by shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Ukraine and the EU did not succumb to the Kremlin’s blackmail, therefore, following the tactics of terror familiar to Russia, the Russian occupation authorities are considering closing the power plant, which will have an extremely negative impact on Ukraine. The damage would be complex: millions of people would suffer, the economy would suffer huge losses, the health care system would be on the verge of collapse. The Kremlin is trying to carry out a complex genocide of Ukrainians, depriving them of even basic comfort. Also, electricity from ZNPP is sold to Europe, which is also negatively perceived in the Kremlin, where it was expected that the energy collapse in Ukraine would occur in February.
In the conditions of the RF occupying forces’ tactical defeat and the localization of active hostilities in the southeastern direction, Russia is focused on nuclear blackmail in the context of pressure on the West. Since August 5, Russian troops have began systematically shelling of the Zaporizhzhia NPP’s surroundings, some of them at a dangerous distance from the reactors. Russian officials and propaganda consistently accuse the Armed Forces of Ukraine of such attacks. During July and early August, the Russian offensive in the southeast of Ukraine slowed down significantly. In some areas of the front, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a counteroffensive, liberating occupied settlements. The Russian army is exhausted, demoralized, covert mobilization is slow and cannot provide the front’s need for manpower, there is a lack of weapons. Russia does not have the power resources to feel free to change the situation at the front to its own advantage. Putin is in dire need of negotiations on his own terms, which at the same time will provide a tactical pause for the concentration of necessary resources on the front and the creation of prerequisites for the probable integration of the occupied territories of Ukraine into the Russian Federation.
Based on these goals, the Russian Federation has intensified nuclear blackmail of Europe, artificially creating the risk of a man-made disaster at the ZNPP. On August 12, the representative of the occupation administration of the Zaporizhia region, V. Rogov, stated that «the process of conserving the ZNPP is starting due to low productivity as s result of shelling.» Russia partially de-energized the power plant due to constant shelling. The Russian curators want to disconnect the generators of the ZNPP from the energy system of Ukraine, followed by a complete shutdown of the power plant. In this way, the occupiers want to connect the power plant to the power system of the Russian Federation by directing power lines to Crimea. The Kremlin is creating an unprecedented radiation threat to Europe: in case of a complete shutdown of the power plant and attempts to continue its operation at the RF technology base, unexpected situations are possible, because in case of disconnection of the ZNPP generators from the power system of Ukraine, they will not be able to be used for their own fuel cooling needs in conditions of complete blackout of the power plant. At the same time, there will be a blackout in the southern regions of Ukraine, which receive electricity from the ZNPP. Millions of people will be left without electrification, businesses, schools, universities, medical institutions will stop, there will be no communication, the lives of thousands of people will be in danger. This could become the biggest man-made disaster in human history.
Russia deliberately blackmails the entire civilized world with a possible radiation catastrophe on the basis of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, gradually reducing the ability to defend the ZNPP in case of a radiation accident. This is all nuclear terrorism, which is used with a political purpose. Powerless at the front, Putin is able to kill millions of people for the sake of his geopolitical interests. Humanity must stop the greatest evil of the 21st century, until the irreparable happened.