DISINFO: Attack on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant maybe a Western plan to force a ceasefire on Russia
SUMMARY
The attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant may be a Western plan to force a ceasefire on Russia. Austria’s Foreign Minister Karl Nehammer declared that it is necessary for both sides to sit down and negotiate, right after Ukraine’s terror attack on the plant. The question is whether this is a political, opportunistic or long-sought statement. Coincidences do not exist. The West provided the means to attack Zaporizhzhia’s plant, so behind all this is clearly the hands of the US, Germany and France.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory not supported by evidence. While responsibility for events at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in August 2024 was unclear at the time this disinformation story appeared, there was nothing indicating that external actors played any role in them. The ultimate goal of this disinformation story is to promote several recurring pro-Kremlin narratives about Ukraine as a Western proxy war aiming to destabilise Russia.
Both sides blamed each other for the incident that led to a fire in one of the cooling towers of the facility. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of starting the fire “to blackmail Ukraine, and all of Europe and the world”, while Russia affirmed that it was caused by a Ukrainian drone attack.
On 12 August 2024, a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited the plant and “determined that the damage was most likely concentrated on the interior of the tower” and that “neither tyre nor drone remains were observed during the walkdown”. The next day, IAEA head Rafael Grossi stated that “the evidence gathered reinforces our conclusion that the main fire seems unlikely to be at the base of the cooling tower”. The agency did not attribute responsibility for the incident to any side.
Since Russia’s takeover of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in February 2022, this facility has been a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation. See other examples in our database, such as claims that Ukraine attacks Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to blackmail Europe with a new Chernobyl, that the US wants to prepare the world for a provocation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, that Zelenskyy being pushed to attack the Zaporizhzhia NPP, or that Ukraine may blow the Zaporizhzhia nuclear site up to cover up the failure of the counteroffensive.