Paris – Serious analysts are raising serious doubts about the Ukraine-UK-US narrative accusing Russia’s from “bombing” Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, with six reactors, the largest nuclear compound in Europe.
The NATO narrative says that Russian troops took over the nuclear plant Friday morning March 4 “after shelling” it during the night. The local mayor (of the city of Enerhodar) claimed in a Telegram post that the plant was “on fire” due to “continuous enemy shelling.”
Then, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba lashed out on twitter that Russia had attacked the power plant “from all sides” and warned that if the nuclear station “blows up,” it would be “10 times larger than Chernobyl.” An unnamed Ukrainian official also reportedly told US Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) that one reactor was “hit” but added that a meltdown was “unlikely.”
Later that night, Zelensky accused Russia of “nuclear terrorism” and discussed the situation with Biden. “POTUS spoke with President Zelenskyy this evening to receive an update on the fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP),” the White House tweeted. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also said she was in touch with Kiev’s energy minister and so was UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who rushed into convening a UN Security Council meeting following a request from several countries. US republicans then followed with their calls to “take out” Putin.
The facts are totally different. Russian troops were in the area as early as Monday Feb. 28, a fact fully confirmed by the IAEA, which states, in its update N°4 posted on its website on that day: “On 27 Feb, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry informed the IAEA that Russian military forces were advancing close to the largest of the sites – the Zaporizhzhya NPP in eastern Ukraine. Additional information received on 28 Feb from the operator confirmed that the Russian forces were operational near the site but had not entered it at the time of reporting.” On Wednesday, March 2, the IAEA wrote: “Russia has informed the IAEA that its military forces have taken control of the territory around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya NPP, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today. In an official letter to the Director General dated 1 March, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the International Organizations in Vienna also said personnel at the plant continued their “work on providing nuclear safety and monitoring radiation in normal mode of operation. The radiation levels remain normal.”