Russia: Ukraine's nuclear plant attacks impossible without Western backing

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Ongoing attacks by the Ukrainian military on nuclear power facilities, including the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), would have been impossible without the support of Kiev's Western sponsors, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

Zakharova pointed out that targeted and increasingly serious attacks by the Kiev regime on the Russian nuclear energy infrastructure have continued for several years, including on the Zaporozhye NPP and its satellite city of Energodar.

"Such provocations would have been impossible if not for the reckless support of Western curators, who instill a false sense of impunity in the current Ukrainian authorities and provoke them to new ventures," the ministry quoted her as saying in a statement in response to the inconsistent reaction of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding Ukraine’s ongoing strikes against nuclear energy facilities.

The Zaporozhye NPP is located on the shores of the Kakhovka Reservoir in Energodar. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, with six power units capable of producing a combined six GW of electricity.

Since 2022, the Ukrainian forces have been shelling both residential areas of Energodar and the plant's grounds with artillery and drone strikes. Since September 2022, experts from the IAEA mission have been permanently stationed at the plant. Their composition is regularly rotated.