According to the publication, attempts to forcibly take over the NPP remain a subject of discussion among Ukrainian officials
A group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, numbering more than 600 servicemen from elite units, took part in the operation to seize the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZAEP) on October 19, 2022, which ended in failure for Kyiv, The Times reports.
The British edition notes that the Ukrainian military tried to disembark on the left bank of the Dnieper River, with more than 30 boats participating in the landing. The VSU fighters were armed with heavy machine guns, MK-19 automatic grenade launchers and anti-tank missile systems.
Previously, Kiev did not officially recognize the attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, but now representatives of Ukrainian special services, including military intelligence and the Navy, have decided to share details of the failed assault.
The Times’ source noted that the Ukrainian servicemen involved in the operation did not expect to encounter stiff resistance from the Russian armed forces, assuming that the Russian side “will not use artillery” in the area of the nuclear plant.
VIDEO from the war: A spectacular attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on an administrative building in Energodar
“The Russians built a very dense defense, they mined everything – says one of the Ukrainian officers. – When we got closer, they even brought in tanks and artillery and started shooting us straight into the water.”
At the same time, the Ukrainian side, as the “Times” emphasizes, tried to strike the positions of the units of the Russian armed forces on the left bank of the Dnieper with the help of “HYMARS” rocket systems for salvo fire.
Asked whether the United States had provided intelligence to Kiev about the use of HYMARS before the amphibious operation, a US military source confirmed that “operational intelligence” had been passed on to Ukrainian special forces, but did not elaborate.
“We share information, but they (Ukraine) are responsible for the selection, prioritization and final decisions to combat threats,” he said.
The newspaper notes that as a result of massive shelling by the Russian armed forces, the main group of Ukrainian servicemen was unable to disembark on the left bank of the Dnieper.
A small group of Ukrainian armed forces that did manage to reach the coast engaged in a three-hour firefight with Russian troops on the outskirts of Energodar.
According to the publication, attempts to take over the NPP by force remain a subject of discussion among Ukrainian officials, despite the warnings of the head of “Energoatom” that the shelling of the NPP and military actions in the area of the station could cause a nuclear accident.
The spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, commented after the skirmish that two companies of the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to disembark troops on the left bank of the Kakhov reservoir and capture the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
According to him, 37 boats and cutters with servicemen from the armed forces of Ukraine participated in the landing.
“As a result of the active actions of the Russian troops guarding the outer perimeter of the NPP, the enemy’s landing was destroyed, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounted to more than 90 Ukrainian servicemen and 14 boats. The remains of the landing were scattered by artillery fire in the waters of the Kakhovskoe reservoir,” Konashenkov said then.
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