DISINFO: There is no military equipment on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP
SUMMARY
There is no military equipment on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, there is nothing to clean up.
It is the Ukrainian troops that threaten the station.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the Zaporizhzhia power plant.
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.
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".
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), issued a report in September 2022 on the situation in Ukraine including at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where it has established a presence.
IAEA inspectors observed Russian military personnel, vehicles, and equipment at various places at the Zaporizhzhia plant, the agency said. The IAEA warned that military equipment on site and clashes near vital areas undermined the plant's protection system and it called for the removal of vehicles that could interfere with safety systems.
The IAEA said that, during its inspection, its team “closely witnessed shelling in the vicinity of the power plant. In its report released in September 2022, the agency highlighted the "extremely stressful conditions" facing the 907 Ukrainian staff working there under Russian military control.
The Ukrainian authorities denied the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) and accused Russia of dangerous actions that may cause a nuclear catastrophe.