The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that Ukrainian forces attempted to capture the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on Friday night.
The Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian vessels with a force of about 250 Ukrainian troops attempted to land on the shore of a lake near the plant, which is located in the southern city of Enerhodar.
The alleged operation came as inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were stationed at the plant. “Despite the presence of representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the Kyiv regime once again attempted to seize the plant,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, according to Reuters.
The comments from the Russian Defense Ministry were the second time Moscow accused Ukraine of attempting to capture the ZNPP. Russia said that it thwarted an attempt by 60 Ukrainian militants to capture the plant on Thursday morning when IAEA inspectors were on their way to the ZNPP. Russian-installed authorities in the region claimed the fighters were trained by the British intelligence agency MI6 as thousands of Ukrainian troops are being trained inside the UK.
The Russian claims about Ukraine’s attempt to capture the ZNPP aren’t confirmed, but the Ukrainian military did admit to shelling in areas around the plant in Enerhodar on Friday.
The confirmation of strikes in Enerhodar is a rare admission of military operations in the area. The ZNPP and the areas around it have been the site of frequent shelling, but Ukraine has tried to blame Russian forces for the attacks, even though the territory has been controlled by Russia since March.
Shelling continued in the area on Saturday despite the IAEA presence, resulting in the ZNPP losing its main connection to the power grid again. The plant is still connected to the power grid thanks to a reserve line. Russian-installed officials in the region said there was no shelling on the ZNPP on Sunday.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi announced Friday that the nuclear watchdog is leaving two inspectors at the ZNPP to establish a permanent presence. “We are establishing a permanent presence on site, this time with two of our experts, which will be continuing the work,” he said.
Ukraine has a funny way of working towards ‘demilitarization’. Of course only one side is violent or agressive.
Say WHAT? Ukraine isn’t doing any such thing and never has. It’s the Russians that want to demilitarize Ukraine. Hello?
Let’s get real. Both sides want control over the nuclear facility. It is a shield for whichever side controls it, and only the side that controls it will benefit from the electricity it produces.
Russia has already shut down 1 of the 2 reactors that were operating when they seized it, and has already cut power to western Ukraine.
Actually Ukraine has made promises to EXPORT electricity to their weapons-donating allies in Europe. Talk about ‘weaponizing energy’.
Largest nuke plant in Europe. Great place to be conducting a war. I hope it melts down, blows up and massive fallout sweeps across Russia right on into China. What could be better?
Holy cow Charlie Brown, what a thing to say…
You’re the very definition of an “Ugly Amerikkkan.” It’s appropriate that your icon is perennial loser Charlie Brown.
Russia did not “say” that, they did it, and wiped them out with everything from attack jet Fighters, attack helicopters and Ground Forces using Assault Weapons. If they hadn’t been ready the UN team would be Hostage/Human Shields. The Nazi assault/Commando Raid was planned by their Pentagon Advisors who plan everything they do.
I’m nearly certain that IAEA inspectors were able to see the op as it went down.
Rumor has it that the raid was planned by British Intelligence.
Have any of the IAEA inspectors publicly commented on it?
No, they did not. Given the Agency’s reputation, I would have never expected any comments. Would you?
Actually, I do not understand the purpose of the mission. If there is any purpose it would be to help Zelenski internationalize the issue of nuclear power plant dangers. NPP of older gerenation technology come with risks. And with military activity — risk jumps up considerably.
Now that the issue has been internationalized, what is next? The two —- if they stay at all — can only be of political value. Unless they actually have experience with hands on managing of a NPP, they can hardly be of value.
In the West, no new NPPs were built for decades, and in US, since seventies. Hopefully the two experts have more experience than those running the Zaporozhie plant today.
As you can gather, I have low opinnion of the agency. The shenanigans surrounding Iranian nuclear issue are a good indication of their real expertise.
Assuming this is for real, Ukrainian forces couldn’t hold a site in a Russian controlled area unless they planned to threaten meltdowns, or perhaps the intent all along was to melt the reactors down. The US isn’t going to win so it has to settle for as much death and destruction as possible.
If they managed to take the plant, it would have been a huge political boost to Zelenski. And it would have been easy to keep the plant under control, as IAEA experts would be hostages,, naturally, they would not be called hostages in Western media. The rest of the world would not be that kund.
It was a good plan, in fact. Coming across the reservoir in small units, it would be easy to thise that successfully land to hide in the area by the water, until an opportunuty came to infiltrate the plant, especially with an insider help.
Russia would have been in no position to chase them out, risking nuclear accident.
I really winder if the distraction of IAEA arrival was actually the plan’s srtringest asset. And the experts’ physical presence a reassuring “international” presence following a takeover.
Now that the plan did not suceed, I wonder if IAEA experts will stay at all.
There are many claiming that no such operation happened. Given that some commandos are captured, details will emerge over time.
I’m not claiming that “no such operation happened.”
I’m simply pointing out that the only claims I’ve heard of it having happened are from Russian state media and the Russian Ministry of Defense. Which are exactly as credible/reliable as western mainstream media and western regime spokespersons.
Same old, same old BS from Knapp. Never wades in except to cast doubt on things everyone knows actually happened – and only against Russia. Never says anything about Ukrainian BS claims or US BS claims about the war. Everyone should ask themselves why that is and why Antiwar is constantly behind the curve on events.
Antiwar.com took a hit when they lost Raimondo but if you don’t like the site it’s a big web.
“Never says anything about Ukrainian BS claims or US BS claims about the war.”
Liar.
I think there’s a chance of Russia telling the truth but the Ukrainians have zero credibility.
Maybe the IAEA people were in on it. Or maybe the Ukrainians have watched Where Eagles Dare too many times.
Is Ukraine desperate enough to create an incident with lasting environmental disaster?
That probably depends on a couple of things.
First, is the lasting environmental disaster on land that they control and need, or is it on land currently occupied by Russian forces that they might see as worth badly damaging both to deprive the Russians of its use and to make the Russians look bad?
Secondly, could they believably blame it on the Russians?
The answer to the second question is “yes,” at least with respect to western regimes and media.
The Ukrainians aren’t getting the territory back so I guess it’s a radioactive scorched earth policy. And concur on the second conclusion, unfortunately. If there are future historians they’ll think different but in the meantime the masses swallow whatever they’re fed.
When Putin declares “victory” and brings his fiasco to an end, the final line of control is vanishingly unlikely to be as far west as the Zaporizhzhia plant. The Russian forces can probably secure the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, and may manage to retain a narrow land corridor in Zaporizhzhia along the Azov Sea In to Crimea, but the longer they continue trying and failing to seize more of southeastern Ukraine, the more likely a “radioactive scorched earth policy” is to come around. So it really comes down to whether Putin is canny/calculating, or nuts. I’m still assuming the former.
I think it is far more likely to end with a landlocked Ukraine rump state, run by a government subject to a Russian veto. They’ve lost, and it is only getting worse.
I should have checked the map. I didn’t realize the plant was that far west. I don’t think the Ukrainians could force a meltdown because it seems like the Russians would be able to spike the reactors, but whatever the “plan” and whoever had it I would bet on Putin over Biden.
Idiot.
You may be right. It may indeed be idiotic of me to assume that Putin is sane/rational. But I have to call it the way I see it.
Too crazy for a government? Use that in a sentence a few times. They couldn’t hold the plant by force, and taking hostages with the Russians is a guaranteed storming, so if this is for real they were either going to threaten a meltdown or stage one.
I can think of at least one other, militarily sound, reason for such an operation.
The plant was obviously going to be a focus of attention, and a special operations mission would be a great way to make it even more so as a deception operation for the purpose of goading the Russians into concentrating more resources around that place, at that time, making it easier for other Ukrainian forces to do something elsewhere in a place now occupied by fewer Russian troops and with less on-call air and artillery support at their disposal because those things were prioritizing Zaporizhia.
I purposely avoided keeping up with news over the weekend. Has any evidence yet come to light that the operation even happened? Last time I checked on Thursday or Friday, the only sources I saw anyone citing for it having happened were Russian state media/Ministry of Defense.
I’ve noticed the lack of visuals, but then the first Russian I learned was “nyet pictures”. If it didn’t happen it wasn’t for a lack of crazy or hopeless. Goading the Russians into diverting resources is a prosaic possibility but I think the Ukrainians/US need to throw long to keep the delusion alive. But who knows. At least it gets the budget spent.
Simple answer. YES
“Russia Says It Foiled Ukrainian Attempt to Seize Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant”
In addition to eliminating 60 Ukrainian Special Operations troops on Thursday Russia another 250 were eliminated on Friday. Rumor is that 10 mercenaries and 3 British NATO officers were also eliminated.
Ukraine is in a lose lose situation. Good job senile angry Joey Biden, puppet master obama, incompetent Boris Johnson and Zelensky. You are fighting Russia until the last Ukrainian is eliminated!
Plus a few expendable British and NATO soldiers.
Time for peace negotiations.
As opposed to reading Knapp make a fool of himself with his zero military knowledge, consider reading the opinion of Bernhard, a former German tank officer, over at MoA:
Kherson ‘Counteroffensive’ – Zelenski Is Going For Broke
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/09/kherson-counteroffensive-zelenski-goes-for-broke.html#more
I don’t claim to have “military knowledge” on a level that would qualify me to serve on e.g. a general staff level. The farthest my military experience tends in that direction was having filled some junior infantry officer billets on a temporary basis as an NCO, planned and executed small unit missions in both peacetime and wartime environments, done a lot of reading, and spent some time hanging around Kent van Cleave’s Defense and Strategic Studies department auditing classes and such in the early 1990s when it was located at Missouri State.
What’s your “military knowledge” skill set, other than copying and pasting the claims of the regimes you support in this or that conflict?