... When and If That Happens.
July 1, 2023
rough, incomplete - updates likely - urgent ones hopefully not
small adds 7/2...
I don't know just what happened to cause the disastrous radiation leak at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the largest nuclear plant in Europe. That's at least partly because the event hasn't even happened yet, and hopefully it won't.
Bookmark this post. If the disaster finally happens, as many smart people have predicted will be in the next few days, check your immediate news feeds, then come and read this, as needed, and share it. Better yet, share it now.
But if it does happen, Ukraine and not Russia will probably have done it, just like every attack so far on the Russian-occupied plant has evidently been done by Ukraine, not Russia. My imperfect but good ballistic readings have added up to something pretty undeniable here (and I'm open to see any denials anyone might try). Here they are finally mapped together, and below find some brief explanations with links to the work I've been showing for almost a year now, regarding the attacks between August 5 (off-frame) and November 20 of last year. There have been an alarming few attacks this year as well, briefly considered below. Finally, I'll argue how "everyone already knows who will have done it."
Recent Ukrainian Claims (Partial Review)
For the last month in particular, Ukraine's president Zelenskyy and his aides and government ministers have been repeating warnings that Russia plans to very soon destroy the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). On the other hand, Dmitry Polyansky, First Deputy Representative of Russia to the UN, published a letter "warning about the impending provocation by the Kyiv regime at the plant," which he had circulated in the UN.
"I must draw your attention to the heinous allegations ... that the Russian Federation could deliberately mine and destroy a nuclear power plant that it controls and which is located on the territory of one of its subjects are simply absurd. The absurdity of such statements exceeds the absurdity of the Kyiv regime's accusations that the Russian Armed Forces are shelling the ZNPP." "we urge the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the international community at large to make every effort to prevent the Kiev regime and its sponsors from staging yet another catastrophic provocation, this time on an even larger scale." https://t.me/zvezdanews/123119
Can it really be that absurd? "Russian shelling on the morning of May 22 has severed the last remaining external power line to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Ukraine's nuclear energy company Energoatom said. The nuclear plant, located near Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia Oblast is now reportedly running on backup diesel generators, which can only last up to 10 days, according to the company. External power supply is vital for the operation of the nuclear fuel cooling pumps in the holding pools and nuclear reactors." https://kyivindependent.com/russian-shelling-threatens-nuclear-disaster-at-zaporizhzhia-plant/
This might risk a disaster, but was swiftly refuted by Vladimir Rogov: "Zaporizhia NPP was transferred to standby and emergency power supply from diesel generators. Due to the actions of the Zelensky regime, ZNPP is completely disconnected from external power supply. Energoatom disconnected the power line Dneprovskaya controlled by him." https://t.me/vrogov/9696
ZNPP official channel on Telegram refuted this too. Later on the 22nd they reported “At 14:20, the supply of electricity to the Zaporozhye NPP was restored. The station is operating normally. Diesel generators have been stopped and put on duty,” said Yury Chernichuk, director of the Zaporizhzhya NPP." They don't mention why power was lost, but operations were normal and "There are no violations in the operation of the nuclear power plant." There was no shelling by either side, they say. https://t.me/znppofficial/272
On May 26, Ukraine's Defense Intelligence representative Andriy Yusov said "The occupiers are going to make an imitation of a strike on the station's facilities and continue to blame Ukraine for this. ... In the near future, they are preparing a provocation, namely, an imitation of a strike on the facilities of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with elements of leakage of nuclear materials. For this purpose, the occupiers have already deployed appropriate weapons on the territory of the ZNPP," Yusov said. He also said "the occupiers want to use the so-called Rosatom experts to allegedly "fix" the strikes. In parallel, representatives of international structures and organizations, including the IAEA, will also be invited," and he says that the Russians also plan to use chemical weapons on the Zaporizhzhia front. https://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/rosiya-gotue-provokatsiyu-udarom-zaes-gur-1685123809.html
Yusov said the same about Donetsk ahead of Ukrainian shelling there over Christmas and the New Year. He claimed on December 20 that the Russians were planting bits of Western-made weapons around the city just to implicate Ukraine. Fragments like that were then shown next to the damage of impacts from the Ukrainian-held northwest - also simulated, Yusov would say. Hit in the alleged Russian false-flag attacks over the next 12 days: Donetsk Regional Clinical Traumatology Hospital/ Republican Hospital, "Road clinic," Donetsk Technical School of Industrial Automation, Solovyanenko Theater, "Youth Palace, " Shevchenko Monument, Monument to tankmen, Donetsk City shopping mall, Kindergarten no. 151, Shesh-Besh restaurant and resort, Hotel Victoria, various streets and apartment buildings and a park. The day after Yusov spoke. A Dec 21 assassination attempt on the DPR's prime minister Vitaly Khotsenko and the former director of Russia's space program Dmitry Rogozin just south of Donetsk was actually admitted by Ukraine. Then a December 30 attack on Hotel Victoria in the heart of Donetsk that killed a top Russian military investigator was left more ambiguous. Maybe that was another Russian/DPR false-flag like the rest? And presumably it will be the same at the nuclear plant if anything happens there? see Donetsk PRE-Christmas Shelling, 16-24 December - https://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2023/01/donetsk-new-years-shelling.html
On June 6, of course, the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed. Kyiv's Banderite brains spent a couple weeks taking advantage of the opportunities it afforded them, blaming Russia for the event in a few different ways, sowing related fakes like "Russians firing on rescue boats" (it was a dislodged mine, dummies), claiming the breach threatened the ZNPP's cooling pond (not immediately, if ever), and then claiming the dam's destruction meant the Russians would deliberately destroy the ZNPP next, or at least use it to stage a more limited radiological event. The most logical motive I've seen is to make the area unfit for living OR fighting, preventing the obviously-fated Ukrainian victory.
By June 21 the threats about the ZNPP resumed at a greater pace. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) - who had just been rumored to be dead - resurfaced on the 21st to say: "First of all, ZNPP was and still is under the temporary control of the occupation forces. The truth is that by destroying the dam, they destroyed the normal access of water to the coolers operating at ZNPP. Second, the plant was additionally mined. The worst thing is that it was the cooler [cooling pond] that was mined," DIU's head said. According to the head of military intelligence, if Russians disable the cooler by blowing it up, there is a high probability that there will be significant problems." https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3725681-budanov-russians-mine-cooler-at-znpp.html
These claims have been around since last year - the cooling pond or the cooling tower was filled with/surrounded by/covered with landmines that could destroy it on command. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) finally had some words about this allegation: "The IAEA is aware of reports of mines having been placed near the cooling pond. No mines were observed at the site during the Director General’s visit, including the cooling pond." They had previously seen mines set outside the plant perimeter and some places inside it, described as defensive. To the IAEA, that was "not in line with safety standards" but "the main safety functions of the facility would not be significantly affected” even if some of the mines went off.
Budanov was undeterred. On June 25 he had a new story: "Russian troops moved vehicles charged with explosives to four of the six nuclear reactors ... It is unclear if the International Atomic Energy Agency was granted access to these units during its visit on 15 June 2023." Apparently not - the IAEA was not able to refute those new claims in the same way. https://euromaidanpress.com/2023/06/25/russian-troops-plant-explosives-near-4-nuclear-reactors-at-zaporizhzhia-npp-ukraines-intel/
This might refer to military trucks which the Russians parked in some reactors' turbine halls last July, after Ukraine had attacked their troops and vehicles parked in the open with Warmate drones, killing some. Russia claims the vehicles moved into the halls were all unarmed, and everything seen there is. shown. Ukraine claims to believe the trucks were crammed with explosives ready to blow the reactors, but this is probably nothing but fantasy.
On June 28, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the OSCE Chairmanship’s Security Review Conference: "Today, Russia is threatening Ukraine and the entire OSCE area with a radiation incident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. No matter what Russian propaganda says, it is Russia and only Russia that has the motivation and means to carry out an incident at ZNPP." So even if it looks like Ukraine did it - and military intelligence predicts it will - it must still be Russia, if not because of their plan to make it look Ukrainian, then because Ukraine has no motive - even here 6 days after the Graham-Blumenthal resolution (see below). It's important that he lay the groundwork of fantasy in such a way. This is how Ukraine since 2014 has always been run.
June 29: Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Lyashko went on TV to assure the public that if someone with the motive were to damage the plant and cause a leak, "Residents of Kiev will not feel the consequences," or at least people would keep a close eye on radiation levels, so there was no need to panic. Just Europe, and NATO partners in North America should feel threatened enough to desperately intervene. "On the air, Lyashko also admitted that it is impossible to protect the entire population during a radiation accident. According to him, people who live in the potential affected area have already been given drugs to protect the thyroid gland." Sounds like the plan is ready to roll. https://twitter.com/dana916/status/1674482466562748416
June 30: In Zaporizhzhia at least, emergency drills were carried out. "Dressed in white and yellow protective suits and armed with devices to detect radiation levels, Ukrainian emergency workers took part in a drill Thursday to prepare for a potential risk of radiation leakage from the Russian-occupied ZNPP" https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jun/30/ukraine-holds-drills-to-prepare-for-radiation-leak/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow
June 30 the allegations gets kind of chilling: "The Russians are reducing their presence at #Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate reports. The Russian representatives of #Rosatom have already left, and Ukrainian employees of the plant who signed contracts with Rosatom are being advised to evacuate by July 5. Meanwhile, the number of military patrols in #Enerhodar is gradually decreasing." KyivPost on Twitter
June 30: further claims published by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on its Telegram channel (which I didn't find yet): employees are ordered to leave before July 5, relocating to Crimea, and "the personnel who remain at the plant are ordered to "blame Ukraine in case of any emergencies."" https://twitter.com/quakes99/status/1674858289971208192
Ukraine says Russia says blame Ukraine, and all this other stuff. Any or all of it COULD be true, as far as I know, even though the well-informed Russian-affiliated Vladimir Rogov swiftly denied it:
The head of the movement "We are together with Russia" Vladimir Rogov called the statement of the military intelligence of Ukraine about the evacuation of personnel from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant a lie. ... "All this is a lie and information stuffing in order to sow panic. The Zaporozhye NPP is operating as usual, its employees carry out their duties with dignity, despite threats and blackmail from the Kiev terrorist regime," he said. Рогов назвал заявление Киева об эвакуации персонала с ЗАЭС ложью - РИА Новости, 30.06.2023 (ria.ru)
It seems the same was alleged before: May 12, 10 days before they would say Russia bombed the power lines, Energoatom reports "The Russians plan to "evacuate" more than 3,000 workers from the ZNPP" https://twitter.com/uacrisis/status/1657029293917057027 and later, as the workers were "slaves," it was their families to be relocated from the drone-ravaged city of Energodar. Maybe the latter was even true, but on May 12 : "no evacuation, as stated by the Ukrainian side, is being carried out." https://t.me/zaes_energoatom/1800
The workers are still there now, but allegedly just about to leave again, in one of those "troubling signs" you have to make up every so often.
Green-Lighted with a NATO Red Line
A week earlier, on June 22, the United States Congress gave Ukraine a red-line sort of green-light to go ahead with any Russian attack they have planned. U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (ghoul, South Carolina) and Richard Blumenthal (tool, Connecticut) introduced a resolution "to respond to the Russian Federation delivering tactical nuclear weapons to the Republic of Belarus, but also including a clause that "the destruction of a nuclear facility, dispersing radioactive contaminates into NATO territory causing significant harm to human life," will be seen "as an attack on NATO requiring an immediate response, including the implementation of Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty." Graham, Blumenthal Introduce Resolution To Address Threat Of Russian Tactical Nukes - Press Releases - United States Senator Lindsey Graham (senate.gov)
It doesn't seem to matter who causes the nuclear disaster, or it goes without saying that - whoever it actually is - it will be Russia. It wouldn't mean any country is forces to send troops, and it's not clear if a resolution by 2 US senators can bind whole other countries to do anything, but ... the idea is it will be bad for Russia and good for Ukraine, raising Ukraine's motive to have some disaster occur.
This is akin to former president Obama's "red line" over chemical weapons use in Syria, issued in August 2012 and repeated in December. Hundreds of chemical attacks blamed on Syria followed, killing probably well over 1,000 civilians in total, dozens of militant fighters and some family members, and dozens of Syrian troops, between 2012 and 2018. As a former US ambassador in the Middle East told journalist Charles Glass, “The ‘red line’ was an open invitation to a false-flag operation.” (via Kit Klarenberg)
I saw it that way too. See here for how it started and how I started following CW attack allegations a few days before they first appeared, in early December, 2012. As far as my research can tell, foreign-backed terrorists were responsible for all of these attacks, as some suppressed findings of the OPCW suggested - at least - with the 2018 Douma incident. It may be the same in other cases they investigated, and we just haven't had materials leaked like that before.
When and How?
Russian sources are said to indicate their "Ukrainian" false-false-flag even will come in early July, and specifically on or after July 5, but Russian-affiliated sources deny this.
June 22 Zelenskyy advisor Iullia Mendel wrote about clues for and veiled predictions of a ZNPP disaster that were "happening against the backdrop of intensified Russian propaganda in the southern regions, which explicitly mentions the beginning of July. ... Residents I keep in touch with in Kherson, my home region, already know that this may be a kind of warning about Russia’s own plans." https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/18572
The July 5 deadline recently floated by Kyiv clearly fits this allegedly Russian timeline. I haven't seen actual Russian reports mentioning early July, but I actually miss most things, so they may exist. Here's someone, also on June 22, reasoning out a similar time frame that has just proven inaccurate: June 26-29. This was based on a possible secret deal where Russia could surrender the ZNPP, by this date - the 22nd - or else "the West will give the green light to the second wave of the "counterattack" - by all means, aiming at the Crimea and Energodar, and at the same time organizing attacks on the Kherson region and the border of the Russian Federation." That date passed with Russia still at the ZNPP meant the two weeks before the NATO summit will be "difficult." https://t.me/melnikby/76230
Boris Rogozin aka Colonel Cassad, June 30: predicts the incident will happen prior to the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 12, if that measure proves necessary. Otherwise, it's just a feint - they have several of those, he thinks, each one ready to be real or a distraction. https://t.me/boris_rozhin/90839
As for how they might do it ... The Ukrainian landing attempt on September 1 comes to mind. They reportedly used 2 unpowered barges, both of which were noticed anyway, damaged or sunk, with many Ukrainian troops drowned and others reportedly killed or captured on land. The allegations were declared fake with the aid of a Ukrainian fake that only shows they were faking, just after the fighting ended, making claims of dead Ukrainians look fake even before the Russians even made the claims, and on the same coastlines they would have launched their denied attack from - possibly first thing after surviving on some other boat of their own, and making it back to shore. https://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2022/10/how-ukrainian-fake-confirms-russia-on.html
Now that the reservoir is dried up following the dam collapse, crossing will be different. There is still some river to ford, but not enough to bother with boats. Land-based armor could now cross much of it, and can pick their best spots to try, although they'd be exposed. But a false-flag attack is best done from a distance similar to what they've always had, by fired rockets as usual, or perhaps with some sabotage with the aid of any workers at the plant they still operate as agents.
As cited above, Defense Intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov had warned Russia planned "an imitation of a strike" on the plant and planned to ""fix" the strikes" as Ukrainian, using experts from Rosatom and the IAEA. They might even agree it looks like Ukraine did it, although that could hardly matter unless the IAEA broke their eternal silence about blame for these attacks.
Yusov will be keyed into Ukraine's own military plans, and he tells us the attack will look like Ukraine did it with an artillery strike that can be read (fixed.) So if it winds up looking like Ukraine did it, that's because of the Russians did it. Because, as Kuleba said, only they have the motive and the means to attack the plant.
How the Precedent Swings: to the North
That's a highly convenient narrative, considering when the plant has been attacked before, obviously by people with adequate motive, it has always looked like Ukraine did it. I've still never compiled a masterlist to organize my posts on the ZNPP, but here are all posts with that tag. There aren't that many attacks really - almost all of them addressed in small clusters in just 5 posts here, running August to November of last year. There were no attacks since November 19 & 20, until April of this year. Since then, there have been a few drone attacks tried and some artillery attacks succeeded in causing new damage.
My ballistic analysis excludes the 2023 attacks (so far), an admitted Ukrainian attack with drones last July, and other drone attacks, where the flight path can't be read the same way as with artillery and rockets - the Warmate model primarily used is made in Poland and used by Ukraine. You just can't tell which way they sent it from. - https://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2022/09/warmate-drones.html
Unguided rockets, mortar, tank and artillery shells can only travel a ballistic arc in a straight line (on the map), and that line can often be determined from patterns in the damage its blast causes. These clues, when they can be determined in attacks at the ZNPP, always point back to the north, from the Ukrainian-occupied bank of the Dnipro, across the then-expansive Khakovka reservoir. Northwest directions from north of Nikopol are the most common, but firing positions to the WNW, NNW, north, and NNE have all been used to attack the plant. A onetime appearance of fire from the east may have a special explanation (see Sept. 1).
August 5, 2022 - first known successful hit - 750v external power switchyard is hit in shelling I can't assess.
August 6, late afternoon, an Urugan rocket with cluster munitions landed near the dry spent fuel storage site, dropping bomblets that caused minor damage - One of the bomblets injured a security guard at the spent fuel storage site, and another may have landed inside it, chipping one of the massive containers inside. Rocket fired from the NW, Kamianske direction. https://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2022/09/ukraines-systematic-shelling-of-znpp.html
People love to cite Rosatom's expert Renat Karchaa claiming the rocket in this attack, with a tail pointing SE (Russian-held), came from the northwest and must have "U-turned." He is translated as saying that, but misspoke or was mistranslated or is an idiot. The soil will disperse in the forward direction, and here it dispersed to the southeast. At least 10 cluster bomblet impacts are located to the northwest, consistent with its having come that way. The rocket probably U-bent so the tail point somewhat forward on its trajectory from the NW.
Make fun instead of the experts consulted Energoatom (Ukraine's nuclear agency) who pretended they couldn't see that, and suggested the soil here U-turned to pile up entirely BEHIND the rocket. This one attack they dared to analyze implicated Russia well enough for them that it stands in for all other cases - they must all come from the SE or be totally fake. Using the slightly famous image of Karchaa, standing in for Energoatom's remote experts in propaganda spin...
August 25-28 and even 29 - several attacks ahead of IAEA visit, conflicting reports - 8/27 at least 3 impacts around special building 2 and reactor 6 - all 3 are pretty clear in coming from NW, Prydniprovske direction. (see below and note impact 1 is visible from space - trajectory is perpendicular to that fuzzy line) - 8/28 artillery shells and drones arrived from the NNE, hitting the roof of special building 1 - 8/29 more of the same at SB1. https://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2022/09/ukraines-systematic-shelling-of-znpp_15.html
Sept. 1: some impacts near the liquid nitrogen cooling station, coming from the east, an unusual direction that would seem to implicate Russians on the far (east) side of the reservoir. The IAEA team arrives the same day, after a Ukrainian landing and offensive. Two artillery strikes in Energoadar share the same direction, jointly indicating a coastal spot near where Ukrainian landings were reported. Between the two angles of fire, I propose a firing spot about here, near Victory Park. https://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2022/10/how-ukrainian-fake-confirms-russia-on.html
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Sep 4/5 - artillery and drone strikes on and near Special Building 1, passage to reactor 1 - from northeast around Illinka, and an unclear E-W impact, probably from the WNW (Nikopol south) - https://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2022/09/attacks-of-september-45.html
Here's a view I didn't get around to including there. And looking back now, I'm not sure why I called that roof impact - or the one to its left - north origin. Now it looks opposite, like south, much like the roof impact on Nov. 19 or 20. Maybe drones U-turned a few times, or these roofs display damage weirdly (they do, at least a bit). Sept. 5 is an extra-tricky attack, in retrospect - 2 unclear north-or-south impacts and a hard-to-call east-or-west impact of something in the ground nearby. Maybe that was done on purpose. It would be the first new attack on-site IAEA inspectors would get to measure. Maybe someone wanted to stump them or even make them wonder if it really was the Russians shelling the plant after all. Whatever the case, this kind of ambiguity is unusual, and the overall picture is really quite clear.
Nov 19/20: Some 2 months since the last attacks, and the latest attacks I'm aware of. Shells from WNW (Nikopol south) on the 19th, NNE (Marganets direction), and maybe drones (one seeming to turn and impact from the south) on one of those days, hitting roof of Special Building 2. 11/20 3+ hits near Reactor 5 (one impact shown at right), damaging the crucial passageway, the reactor's service rail line, and the roadway - the evening before, impacts were noted in the spray ponds, and the grounds south of them and reportedly in the dry spent fuel storage site, where some thick concrete prevents a leak of dangerous nuclear material. Below: impact south of the spray ponds, video made the 19th, filming from the north - the video shows spray from previous hits in the ponds, hears another rocket pass overhead then quieting before its seen impact to the south = flying partly from the north - as the crater seen there suggests. The other part is west, adding up to roughly a Nikopol direction. see: https://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2022/11/shelling-attack-on-znpp-november-1920.html
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The impacts at reactor 5 were probably on the following morning. 3 impacts on the road and rails were readable as from the North (just west of local north). Adding some later views I found from there suggesting another impact. One shows a strange concrete slab near some trucks of the Russian occupiers that are the "root cause" of the shelling that has the nuclear plant crumbling away.
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2023 Attacks on the ZNPP
That may have pushed it far enough. There were no more attacks on the plant reported to the end of the year. 2022 attacks mapped above with estimated firing directions. I haven't followed in 2023, but catching up now, it seems there have been additional attacks. I'll see about visuals and ballistic analysis of these later.
3/29 https://t.me/IntelRepublic/17365 No Ukrainian shells hit the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant territory since the beginning of the year, but the situation remains unstable and dangerous - Renat Karchaa, Advisor to the General Director of Rosenergoatom.
4/4: Ukrainian UAV crashed near the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant - presumably, the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to attack the plant. Ukrainian militants fired an attack drone that fell in the ZNPP area. The drone produced by Poland weighed about 2 kg, RIA Novosti reports. The location of the UAV wreckage proves that the ZNPP infrastructure was the target of the strike.
Then a successful attack on April 12 was reported, but only later on, that I could find. 4/22: "At ZNPP, windows of the turbine hall of the fourth power unit were shattered by an explosive wave - adviser to the head of the Rosenergoatom concern Renat Karchaa. It is reported that the APU used a drone." https://t.me/chp_donetskv/49289 4/28: "The windows in the turbine hall of the Zaporozhye NPP were repaired after the attack by Ukrainian military drones on April 12. Renat Karchaa, adviser to the general director of the Rosenergoatom concern, announced this. "The windows in the turbine hall were repaired: they closed it somewhere with glass, somewhere with chipboard," he said. "https://t.me/zaes_energoatom/1755
4/27 Zaporozhye nuclear power plant restored after attack by Ukrainian drones – Karchaa. Windows were repaired in the turbine hall of the fourth power unit of ZNPP after the attack (https://t.me/readovkanews/57353) by APU drones. Then the openings were literally knocked out by an explosive wave. The damage was covered with glass and chipboard, Renat Karchaa, adviser to the head of the Rosenergoatom concern, told TASS. https://t.me/readovkanews/57701
In the meantime, on April 23: Another Ukrainian drone tried to attack Zaporozhya Nuclear Power Plant right during Grossi’s talks with the head of Rosatom in Kaliningrad. It was a Polish attack drone - anti aircraft forces managed to drop it down. https://t.me/Elena_Evdokimova_Digest/8322
4/28 a new attack just as repairs from the last were finished? This time it was at the liquid nitrogen cooling station - where they attacked just ahead of the IAEA team visit on Sept. 1 - exact geolocation and possible analysis maybe soon - heavy fragmentation damage seen on posts - said a fire was started but swiftly extinguished. - video: https://t.me/Slavyangrad/43619 - https://twitter.com/skadefron/status/1651920456956477441
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Update July 2: probably no April 28 attack. The story is vague, told by no one else, and the damage is old, apparently part of the September 1 barrage ahead of the IAEA visit - see here: Adam Larson #EndtheOPCWCoverup #FreeAssange on Twitter: "Levels of fake in #ZNPP attack claims (short thread)
May 28 reports: "Ukrainian militants attempted to attack the ZNPP using a strike UAV, the device was landed and neutralized 500 meters from the station, a representative of the law enforcement agency said." https://t.me/zaes_energoatom/1874
June 9: "In the morning, EW forces landed 3 Ukrainian UAVs with PG-7L wearable ammunition, which flew in the direction of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the law enforcement agencies of the region reported. The UAVs were examined by explosives specialists. As a result, it was decided to destroy them on the spot. No damage or casualties." https://t.me/izvestia/133753
In Other News... (add 7/2)
June 12: The ZNPP's official website - which doesn't seem to mention these new attacks - notes some minor news: "During the cleaning of the bowls of the spray pools of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, aimed at eliminating the consequences of last year's shelling of the station, fragments from the projectile of the American M777 howitzer were found in one of the bowls of the process water system" https://znpp.ru/novosti/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=9694
June 15 video shows IAEA's Grossi making a visit to check on the plant after the dam collapse and assure everyone there was no immediate danger. This is when he saw no friggin' landmines in the friggin' cooling pond he checked on, or in the spray pools either. Here he is at the latter, being shown pipes long-since punctured in Ukrainian attacks, and probably those US-supplied M777 howitzer shell fragments they found, that probably did this damage. https://t.me/readovkanews/60852
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Before 2022 was out, I was able to plausibly argue how Everybody Knows Ukraine has been Shelling the ZNPP. They might have forgotten by now, but I doubt it, and here's a reminder for everyone, summarized from that post, with some additions:
The UN and IAEA Know It: Ukraine attacked the plant and Energodar and even landed forces around the city, according to the balance of evidence, early on September 1, initiating widely-noted clashes along the coast. This happened just as the IAEA inspection team was driving to the plant, threatening to cancel their visit. Russian forces were seen in action, claiming to turn back that offensive just in time to allow the inspectors safe passage. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric afterwards thanked Russia, apparently, for protecting the IAEA team in this way. “We are glad that the Russian Federation did what it needed to do to keep our inspectors safe,”
Since then, the IAEA team has been there, heard everyone's accounts, seen the damage firsthand, and then left 2 observers behind as most of them returned home. They're clear the plant was shelled on several occasions, threatening operations. But in their September 5 report, before it and ever since, the IAEA apparently cannot say who is to blame, aside from someone within the class "all parties." Or they could say but refuse to, perhaps at someone's behest. But they are clear the responsible part(ies) need to stop it, or else they risk ... being told that again.
When asked who is "playing with fire," referencing Grossi's own remarks from Sunday following powerful explosions that rocked the nuclear power plant Saturday and Sunday, Grossi said "it is very difficult for us to identify from inside the plant who is doing that," adding "by the way, our main goal is to get this to stop, not to get into a game of attribution." (CNN) There are several ways they could find this out, ESPECIALLY from inside the plant, where the impacts occurred. I didn't invent the principles involved in the ballistic analysis I've used to get an idea, just from available images. The IAEA had experts documenting the damaged on-site, and probably subjecting it to some analysis. But the agency has never publicized the results of any analysis. As far as I know, they are allowed to pin blame, and are capable of determining it, and yet they refuse.
Western Leaders Know It: A September 9 statement from "the ministers of Foreign Affairs of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and senior officials from the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, the United States of America, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy" says: "We emphasize that Russia’s seizure and militarization of the ZNPP is the root cause of the current threats" to the plant and it will stay this dangerous "as long as Russia remains present on the site of ZNPP." What do they mean here?
* The root cause of Russians attacking the plant is ... because Russian forces are there
* The root cause of Ukrainians attacking the plant is ... because Russian forces are there
Yeah. If they could bring themselves to explicitly pin the root AND direct cause on Russia, as Ukraine brazenly and illogically does, they surely would. But Western leaders realize that the actual shelling - the direct cause of the danger - is by the Ukrainians. They could demand that Ukraine stop, but they share the same goal as the attackers - to demonize and complicate Russia's occupation of the plant and hopefully force it to end. So they say nothing about the actual attacks except to suggest they are completely justified by Russia's presence, and will rightly continue, or maybe even escalate into a catastrophe to be blamed, one way or another, on Russia.
The Ukrainian Forces DOING It - And Their Relevant Leaders - Know What They're Doing: Maybe they don't all know it, but President Zelenskyy for one seems to get it, so I imagine quite a few brighter people also realize.
It's his government that initially resisted an IAEA visit and investigation into the shelling. BBC, Aug. 3: "The IAEA's director-general said he was trying to put together a mission as soon as possible to visit the plant but this required the approval of both the Ukrainian and Russian sides ... In June, Ukraine's state nuclear company [Energoatom] said Ukraine had not invited the IAEA - and any visit would legitimise Russia's presence there." Bloomberg Aug. 8: "Russia told diplomats it’s ready to welcome international monitors" but "[IAEA director-General] Grossi said he needs permission from Ukraine’s government" but he still didn't have it. Al Jazeera, Aug. 8: "In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said it wanted the (IAEA) to visit ... but that Kyiv was blocking a potential visit. ... Zakharova also claimed Moscow had done everything it could to facilitate a visit by the UN’s nuclear watchdog to the plant but that Kyiv saw it as “beneficial to keep the IAEA away”."
"Mikhail Podolyak (& hence the Zelensky Office) are skeptical about the IAEA visit to the ZNPP. “International institutions and mediation missions look extremely ineffective, extremely cowardly. ...You don’t trust them already at the entrance,” said Podolyak." (Evdokimova) They could be another "Russian Propaganda front" like Amnesty International! You don't need people like snooping around.
The mission pushed ahead, arriving in Ukraine, crossing through Ukrainian territory as Kiev demanded, then faced shelling after it crossed to the Russian side, and UAF allegedly tried to conquer the area immediately ahead of the inspectors, again, raising dangers that are maybe best answered by turning back ... but after Russia blew some things up, the mission pushed ahead with thanks.
And what did the commander-in-chief of the alleged attacks have to say? Once the team arrived, Zelenskyy said "Today, the IAEA mission arrived at Zaporizhzhia NPP. It's good that it happened. The fact itself despite all the provocations by the Russian military and the cynical shelling of Enerhodar and the territory of the plant. Ukraine did everything to make this mission happen. But it is bad that the occupiers are trying to turn this IAEA mission - a really necessary one - into a fruitless tour of the plant. I believe that this will be prevented." I suspect he had just TRIED to prevent it and failed.
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No one was explicitly called out. The motives and methods stayed about the same, and attacks continued into September and October before Zelenskyy "said the only way to ensure radiation safety near Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), as well as in the rest of Ukraine and Europe, is "the complete demilitarization of the territory" surrounding the plant." Russia needs to leave. Many agree that the Russians should leave, of course. But note that until his demands are met, Zelenskyy seems quite sure someone will keep shelling the place and denying "radiation safety" to a lot of people far and wide. He's certain the Russians WON'T attack once they leave ... because they ONLY shell the places they are? That is possible, but how can he be so SURE? Is this shelling somehow an issue that's up to him (at least ostensibly), so he can issue such assurances? If we can take Zelenskyy at his word on this point, what does that mean, folks? It's called NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL, plain as day. It's greased along with cynical inversions of the truth of the kind underwriting the new Ukraine since its bloody birthing in the dark corners of 2014.
The Russians Know it: Just for one example, a Russian statement to the IAEA Board of Governors last September claimed "since July 18, 2022, Ukrainian armed formations have shelled the territory of the ZNPP and its infrastructure more than 30 times, firing more than 120 artillery shells and using at least 16 kamikaze drones." Furthermore, it states, "the satellite city of ZNPP Enerhodar, where the station's employees and their families live, was shelled more than 70 times during the same period (10 times from drones and more than 60 times from barrel artillery and multiple launch rocket systems)."
The Locals of Energodar Know It: Over 20,000 residents reportedly signed a petition for IAEA chief Rafeal Grossi ahead of his September, 2022 visit, declaring "Mr. Grossi, leaders of the IAEA member countries, We, the residents of the Zaporizhzhia region, appeal to you to stop the provocations of Ukraine aimed at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. We ask you to strongly condemn the actions of the Ukrainian leadership to escalate the situation around the Zaporizhya nuclear power plant and warn of responsibility to the world community in the event of continued shelling of the station." Grossi thanked them. The shelling has continued with hardly any note from the outside world.
Former ZNPP Director Murashov Knows It: Igor Murashov was trusted to be the plant's general manager until he wasn't, and the Russians famously arrested him on September 20. There were fears he'd be murdered, but he was soon released after speaking to investigators and "expelled to the territory controlled by Kiev." Under duress, but maybe truthfully, Murashov admitting to "having ties with the Ukrainian special services" and helping them coordinate "terrorist activities" at the plant and in Energodar. "He said he was aware that the shelling of the strategic facility was done by the armed forces of Ukraine and could cause emergencies."
Plant Workers Variously Know It: There was a story I saw in passing, but never included in my blog, about a security guard at the plant who was injured in one of the shelling attacks, is sure Ukraine was behind it, and now fully supports the Russian military, collecting supplies to help them out. If that's true, he'll be on Ukraine's kill list of traitors. One security guard - perhaps the same one - was injured in the August 6 attack from the NW.
Another plant worker at least was killed August 22 in an off-site attack as he was on his way to work, along with the taxi driver. The responsible shell was clearly fired from NW, Kamianske/Chkalove direction, likely aiming for an electric substation they were passing. It's hard to say what he knew or thought about the shelling that killed him.
Others know and process the facts differently. An unnamed engineer at the plant told the BBC he realizes the artillery fire is coming in largely from the northwest and thus appears to be Ukrainian, but ... it's all faked in a Russian false-flag, he claims, "simulating "arrivals" from Nikopol." Otherwise, hardly anyone mentions how the shells seem to come from the north.
Yet other "employees of the Zaporozhye NPP receive messages with threats of reprisals from the Kyiv authorities, the head of the Zaporizhzhya movement "We are with Russia" Vladimir Rogov told RIA Novosti. “They try to intimidate people, publish personal data on social networks, and also threaten with reprisals and murders. This is done both publicly and personally by sending messages through various instant messengers." (May 12 https://ria.ru/20230512/zaes-1871185656.html - https://t.me/zaes_energoatom/1800)
Some Arrested Plant Workers Probably Know It Quite Well: On August 17, following 4 UAF artillery attacks on the plant in a week, Russian-linked sources reported the arrest of two plant workers in Energodar: artillery spotters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who "helped to strike at the territory of the nuclear power plant and the city." Two detainees are named. I don't feel like sharing the names here, but jobs: one was "a security guard at a 750 kV open switchgear (ORU-750)" (area hit by shelling on August 5) and the other is "an engineer." (not the same one that spoke to BBC?) Russian news video shows the arrest raid, a man laying face-down at gunpoint. We're shown notebooks full of numbers and diagrams, including of military vehicles. They had a crude but accurate model of the nuclear plant built up from scraps - see below. There's a raised security perimeter along the right lines, all 6 reactor blocks (but not turbine halls), and important nearby structures, including both special buildings, #2 with a "melted" smokestack and #1 with none at all. But they painted the stripes! They must just love their work.
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Adds: April 11, 2023: Karchaa: informants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are periodically identified at the Zaporozhye NPP - Special services periodically identify informers of Ukrainian nationalists at the Zaporozhye NPP. Renat Karchaa, adviser to the general director of the Rosenergoatom concern, announced this. - He clarified that there are few UAF agents, and they are calculated very quickly. In this case, measures are taken only if the fault of the informant is proven. https://t.me/zaes_energoatom/1692
May 28: Saboteurs preparing a series of terrorist attacks at the ZNPP reportedly arrested in Energodar. The attackers had (https://t.me/energodar_ru/6224) maps and plans of the nuclear power plant with marks for delivering strikes that could lead to a nuclear catastrophe. In addition, Ukrainian saboteurs used foreign satellite systems for communication, as well as weapons for strikes and equipment for conducting reconnaissance and sabotage activities. https://t.me/zaes_energoatom/1873
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