Disinfo: Ukraine must be forced to stop shelling Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant

Summary

The US and the EU must end irresponsible games and intrigues around the Zaporizhzhya atomic power plant and force Ukraine to stop shelling it and the adjacent territories.

Disproof

No evidence is provided to back the claims being made. The recurring claim that Ukraine carries out false flag attacks is designed to deflect blame for the war atrocities away from its real perpetrators.

The Ukrainian authorities denied the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) and accused Russia of dangerous actions that may cause a nuclear catastrophe.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) warns about the risk of Russia's militarisation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. According to recent data, Russia mined the territory of the plant and placed its military armaments near nuclear reactors and nuclear waste storage facilities.

A video shared by Russian opposition outlet The Insider shows that Russian military vehicles move in and around the plant, some of them (including armored vehicles) moved into the building containing the first of the plant’s six nuclear reactors. Besides this, Russian forces dug trenches and establish firing positions.

EU High Representative Josep Borrell condemned Russia’s military activities there and labelled them as a serious and irresponsible breach of nuclear safety rules and another example of Russia’s disregard for international norms.

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, accused Russia of using the plant as a nuclear shield. “Of course, the Ukrainians cannot fire back lest there be a terrible accident involving the nuclear plant,” he said. Russian forces likely use the territory of the plant to shell the Ukrainian-controlled town of Nikopol across the river.

In its recent statement, the Foreign Ministers of the G7 stated that "it is Russia’s continued control of the plant that endangers the region" and demanded Russia to hand back full control over the plant as well as other occupied nuclear facilities to Ukraine.

Russia has been blaming Ukraine for the alleged shelling of the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP for weeks. Russian forces likely use the territory of the NPP to shell the Ukrainian-controlled town of Nikopol across the river.

See more disinformation narratives on "Nazis in Ukraine" and war crimes. For background see: disinformation targeting Ukraine.

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tass.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 304
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 15/08/2022
  • Article language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia, EU, Belarus
  • Keywords: Invasion of Ukraine, Nuclear issues
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Disinfo: Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia plant show that the US does not accept defeat

The attacks carried out with kamikaze drones by the Ukrainian army just 500 metres from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant show that the United States does not accept defeat and that it can resort to any means not to lose its spheres of influence, especially in Europe.

Aug 14, 2022
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about lost sovereignty / external control, specifically about the EU's dependence on the US and so-called "Anglo-Saxons" and disinformation aimed to deflect Russia’s responsibility for shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP). See also our article Key Narratives in Pro-Kremlin Disinformation Part 3: ‘Lost Sovereignty’.

Western leaders have continuously called for talks and a peaceful solution to stop Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, but Moscow has been ignoring these efforts.

Disinfo: Washington and the Kyiv regime's actions pose a threat of nuclear catastrophe

The actions of Washington and the Kyiv regime pose a threat of a nuclear catastrophe.

The shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to catastrophic consequences, for which US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will bear responsibility.

Aug 12, 2022
Disproof

This is an unsubstantiated claim by pro-Kremlin outlets made in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. There is no evidence to support the claims.

This is not the first time the Kremlin’s manipulation and disinformation machine has used a deep-seated and very reasonable fear of a nuclear disaster to advance its political and military goals in Ukraine.

Disinfo: Ukrainian forces fired missiles at the Zaporizhzhia station and Russian defences repels them

On the night of August 7, 2022, Ukrainian forces fired several missiles at the Zaporizhzhia station, where the Russian defences repelled a second violent attack launched by Kyiv's forces with drones and missiles on the station controlled by the Russian army.

Aug 12, 2022
Disproof

No evidence is provided to back the claim that Ukraine is shelling the Zaporizhzhia power plant.

In fact, there have been an increasing number of reports that Russia uses the nuclear site as a so-called “sheltered” artillery park, "using the facilities to fire on Ukrainian positions in the belief that Ukraine would not fire back and risk a nuclear accident".