DISINFO: The West helps Ukraine carry out a provocation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP
SUMMARY
The West is helping Ukraine carry out a provocation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
Of course, before the coming provocation, there is information processing of the masses in the West, where Russia has been appointed the culprit of what is happening.
RESPONSE
This is an unsubstantiated claim by pro-Kremlin outlets made in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, blaming the West for the situation on the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The pro-Kremlin disinformation claim that Ukraine carries out false flag attacks and provocations is designed to deflect blame for the war atrocities away from their real perpetrators.
The claim is part of a wider pro-Kremlin campaign accusing Ukraine and its allies of preparing a false-flag incident in Zaporizhzhia.
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.
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". Russian forces likely use the territory of the NPP to shell the Ukrainian-controlled town of Nikopol across the river. Russia turned the station into a military base. It uses reactor buildings as hiding places for its armaments, such as military trucks and armoured vehicles.
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.
The Ukrainian authorities refuted the allegations of the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) and accused Russia of dangerous actions that may cause a nuclear catastrophe.
President of the European Council Charles Michel emphasized that "Russia's actions are risking a nuclear disaster". Charles Michel supported the idea of a demilitarised zone around the nuclear power plant.
On September 1, 2022 UN (IAEA) inspectors could reach nuclear plant.
Read our article Playing with nuclear fire and the Ukraine-joint statement on the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
See more disinformation cases about the Zaporizhzhia NPP: London is helping Kyiv turn the country into a nuclear wasteland; NATO may use Zaporizhzhia incident as a pretext to join combat in Ukraine; Washington and the Kyiv regime's actions pose a threat of nuclear catastrophe.