Ukrainian Intelligence Says Russia Plans To Carry Out Terrorist Attacks On Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant

JAKARTA - President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence had received information regarding Russia's plans to carry out an attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant involving the release of radiation.

Speaking after a meeting of security chiefs and diplomats, President Zelensky called for pressure Russia to end its occupation of the PLTN, which was occupied days after the invasion in February 2022.

In a video message on Telegram, President Zelensky said he had shared the information with all his international partners such as the United States, Europe, China, and India.

"The intelligence has received information that Russia is considering a scenario of terrorist action at the Zaporizhia nuclear plant, a terrorist act by releasing radiation," President Zelensky said.

"They have prepared everything for this," added President Zelensky.

However, President Zelensky did not say what evidence the intelligence agency had underlying the statement.

It is known, each side accused other parties of having opened fire on Europe's largest PLTN with the six reactors. International efforts to build a demilitarized zone around it have so far failed.

"Unfortunately, I have to remind (people) more than once that radiation knows no national boundaries. And who will be exposed to radiation is only determined by the direction of the wind," President Zelensky warned.

"We need the total emptying of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant," he said.

"And anyone who turns a blind eye to Russia's occupation of such facilities against the installation of Russian mines in the power plant region, actually not only contributes to Russian crimes but also terror in general," President Zelensky said.

World intelligence agencies, President Zelensky said, have the means to "send the right signal and put pressure on it. And this is what it takes."

In this regard, the Kremlin dismissed President Zelensky's accusations of the attack on the PLTN as a "lie", saying the UN nuclear inspector team had visited the PLTN and assessed everything well.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, spent time at the PLTN last week.

Ukraine, which at that time was still part of the Soviet Union, experienced the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986, following an explosion and fire at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, causing radioactive clouds to spread to most parts of Europe.