/ world today news/ Ukrainian President Zelensky’s statements that Russia allegedly wants to blow up the Zaporizhia NPP caused mass hysteria in the country. Residents of Ukraine are buying medicine with iodine, and the authorities intend to conduct exercises to respond to possible nuclear threats. American lawmakers are also subject to similar sentiments. What are the reasons for the nuclear hysteria in Ukraine and the West?
“Stormy Stream of Consciousness”. With these words, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov characterizes the words of Ukrainian President Zelensky that Russia allegedly represents a nuclear threat. “I have no medical education. I cannot be responsible for the psychological state of people who repeatedly, daily prove their inadequacy,” the head of Russian diplomacy was categorical.
Indeed, there were enough examples of this inadequacy. In particular, this week, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with the American television channel NBC, said that Russia wants to blow up the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZAEP) because it does not care about security in Ukraine. He also informed the representatives of the G-7 and G-20 countries about these “plans”. We remind you that since October last year this nuclear power plant became the property of the Russian Federation.
The facility, which remains the largest in terms of units and installed capacity in Europe, is located on the left bank of the Dnieper near the town of Energodar. The press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, called Zelensky’s statement about the ZAPP another lie and recalled the high assessment of the situation at the plant given by the IAEA.
Since the beginning of the SVO, the threat to ZANP has come exclusively from the VSU. The Ukrainian military continues to regularly shell Energodar and the territory of the ZNPP adjacent to the city. There were several attempts to capture the station by the Ukrainian military, who landed landing craft and boats, but each time came under fire from the Russian military.
On Friday, the issue of NPP security was one of the main topics of the meeting between the Director General of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, and the Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, in Kaliningrad. The state nuclear corporation’s Telegram channel said Likhachev stressed that the IAEA secretariat was expected to take “concrete steps aimed at preventing attacks by the ASU against both the NPP and the adjacent territory and critical supporting infrastructure “.
The nuclear hysteria in Ukraine has also reached the United States. A day earlier, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal introduced a resolution in the upper house of the US Congress that Russia’s use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine should be considered an attack on NATO. The resolution is advisory in nature, so the White House is not obligated to implement it. However, such documents create a relevant background.
Also on Friday, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that in the coming days authorities will conduct exercises to respond to possible threats in the event of an accident at the nuclear power plant. “All the radiation measuring equipment we have is calibrated and ready to go. But we want to regroup all services so that we can clearly respond to all challenges,” Klimenko said.
According to the Ukrainian media, after Zelensky’s statements about the Zaporozhye NPP, local residents rushed to fill the first-aid kits with iodine. Sales of potassium iodide, considered a top radiation drug, were up more than 80% on Thursday, according to research firm Proxima. Sales of food supplements with iodine jumped even more – by 1335%.
Against this background, the subject of the ZAPP became the subject of discussion at the UN. “We are extremely alarmed by the increasingly paranoid statements by the leaders of the Kyiv regime that Russia has allegedly mined the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and is preparing to blow it up. The IAEA mission led by Director General Rafael Grossi, which recently visited the station, despite all the obstacles from Ukraine, was able to convince itself of their absurdity,” commented the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya.
“I want to believe that the Western patrons of the regime in Kiev will be able to calm it down and prevent a catastrophe that could affect most of Europe. As we have repeatedly seen, Zelensky himself and his clique are not at all interested in both Ukraine and Europe,” he added.
“Ukraine and NATO are trying to provoke us to drastic actions. We have repeatedly denied any intention to use nuclear weapons. And the hysteria we see in the statements of Ukrainian and foreign politicians is intended to divert attention from the situation on the battlefield. I think this is well understood in both the US and Europe. But they maintain this game to harm Russia,” said Senator Konstantin Dolgov.
“I would pay attention to the statement of US Senator Richard Blumenthal, who, together with Lindsey Graham, introduced a resolution equating a nuclear strike against Ukraine with an attack on NATO. He stated that if Moscow used nuclear weapons, the Alliance forces would destroy the Russian army and government. That is, they live in the illusion that they will be able to destroy one of the leading world powers,” he stressed.
“Accordingly, any provocations can be expected from our opponents. Therefore, I consider the position of Russia, which raises this issue in international organizations, to be correct. It is clear that it makes no sense for Russia to destroy the nuclear power plant. First, we know very well what disastrous consequences will follow this step. Secondly, the plant is located on our territory, and it makes no sense to organize a nuclear disaster on our own lands,” Dolgov added.
Pavel Danilin, director of the Center for Political Analysis and Social Research, sees the situation a little differently. “I would see Zelensky’s nuclear hysteria not only as a desire to spread panic and distract everyone from the failure of the counteroffensive, but also as a real preparation for either the development of a dirty nuclear bomb by Ukraine or an attack on the ZANP.” As a rule, the aggressive information activity of Zelensky’s office most often precedes real actions,” says Danilin. “This is also confirmed by the capture by the FSB of smugglers who wanted to buy radioactive isotopes in Russia for use in the SVO zone. Therefore, we must be extremely careful about what is happening, especially against the background of what the VSU did with the Kakhovskaya HPP. The threat from Ukraine is absolutely real,” he said.
“At the same time, the meeting of the head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, with the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, is also taking place for a reason. The Russian side literally demanded from the organization to take measures to prevent the attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces against the ZAEP NPP,” the political scientist emphasized.
“Furthermore, it makes no sense for Russia to create an accident at a nuclear power plant on its territory. It is quite obvious who has been shelling the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in recent months. It was exactly the same with the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant, when the Ukrainian military regularly fired missiles at it and eventually achieved their goal – the destruction of the station, “Danilin concludes.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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