July 5, 2023, turned out to be very turbulent for Ukrainians and the residents of the states bordering Ukraine. It is now obvious that the actual provocation announced by russia at the ZNPP did not take place. As of July 6, the power plant is operating normally, the water level in the NPP cooling pond is stable, and the radiation level in the entire territory of our country is within normal limits.
In recent weeks, the russian mass media have activated an informational and psychological operation with the main narrative – “Ukraine is preparing a terrorist attack on the ZNPP in order to blame it on russia.” What’s more, pro-russian Telegram channels began to spread “spoilers” that Ukraine is allegedly attacking the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on the night of July 5. On July 4, kremlin propagandists spread the statement of the adviser to the head of the “rosenergoatom” r.karchaa that on the night of July 5, Ukraine “is going to attack the nuclear power plant with a Tochka-U missile with a warhead filled with radioactive waste and drones.” At the same time, according to the Office of Strategic Communications of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the russians placed explosive devices on the outer roof of power units 3 and 4 of the ZNPP in order to detonate them without damaging the power units – to create the image of “strikes” from the side of Ukraine.
It should be admitted that due to the “information dumps” of russian propaganda, a certain part of Ukrainians began to worry that on the night of July 5, the russian federation could really blow up the station. Only timely information by state structures (Emergency Services and Ministry of Health) about the likely consequences of the accident and recommendations on what to do in the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant, developed by the State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety, were able to localize the panic. On July 4, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine officially warned of possible provocations at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, so on the night of July 5, many Ukrainians did not sleep, because they understood that anything can be expected from the aggressor.
Why did the kremlin not dare to implement its threat?
First of all, russia lost the war in the information space. The informational “cover-up” by the kremlin of the preparation of real terrorist acts at the ZNPP and the “transfer of arrows” to Ukraine turned out to be a failure.
Alarm signals about the situation at the station were immediately responded to by the state bodies – from the President of Ukraine and intelligence agencies to the civil defense forces and experts of “Energoatom”.
The President of Ukraine, V. Zelenskyy, with reference to the data of the Ukrainian intelligence, has repeatedly reported that the russian military placed explosives on the roofs of several power units of the ZNPP to simulate an alleged Ukrainian attack on the plant. The intelligence agencies of Ukraine carefully monitored every step of the russians and promptly informed society about possible provocations.
It was the head of the GUR, K. Budanov, who provided Ukrainians and the world community with evidence (in particular, photo and video recordings of trucks with weapons and explosives on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP) that the russians were ready “to create an artificial man-made disaster” at the NPP, and that the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP was just another step of the occupiers to prepare for the provocation.
As a result, the initiative was intercepted and the Ukrainian position regarding probable events at the station began to dominate both the domestic and international information space. Western mass media actively joined in exposing the kremlin’s criminal plans. The publications of the journalists of the BBC and Radio Svoboda formed the relevant public opinion for the Western audience, primarily the political elites of European countries regarding russia’s preparations to blow up the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The level of Ukraine’s coverage of the situation at the nuclear power plant and the evidence base of russia’s preparation for another terrorist attack made the provocation senseless, and russia’s attempts to deny these accusations were nullified.
Even for the most radical supporters of putin regime, it has become obvious that it will not be possible to pass off the detonation of the nuclear power plant as a Ukrainian provocation and to convince the collective West and its own citizens of this. Therefore, it was decided to abandon the plan, at least on July 5.
❗️ So, another nuclear blackmail by the russian occupiers failed. As K. Budanov reported, the threat of a russian terrorist attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is gradually diminishing. Of course, this does not mean that it has completely passed and you can relax. As long as the ZNPP remains under the control of the occupiers, there remains a risk that the russian federation may escalate the situation in order to sow panic in Ukrainian society and demoralize Ukrainian defenders. Especially since the satellite images of the Planet Labs service recorded the appearance of new objects similar to explosives on the roof of the 4th power unit of the ZNPP. And russian propaganda is promoting another PSYOP with the narrative – “before the NATO summit on July 11-12, in order to push the West to invite Ukraine to the Alliance, Ukraine will provoke an incident at the ZNPP.”
