2024-08-28T16:19:00+03:00 War 2024-09-21T04:00:02+03:00

Ukrainian news

ISW analyzes purposes of russian accusations against Ukraine for allegedly creating threat to Kursk NPP

ISW analyzes purposes of russian accusations against Ukraine for allegedly creating threat to Kursk NPP

Russian officials tried to use International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi's visit to the Kursk nuclear power plant to falsely portray Ukraine as being at risk of a radiation incident, with the aim of undermining Western support for Ukraine, and to divert attention from the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP.

This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Thus, on August 27, Grossi said that the situation at the Kursk NPP is "serious" and that "an attack on any NPP is unacceptable, regardless of location." In particular, Grossi added that the Kursk nuclear power plant is particularly vulnerable, because its reactor does not have a protective shell and is located in an "ordinary building", which makes it vulnerable to shelling or drone strikes.

Meanwhile, russian state media claimed that Grossi said he had seen evidence of fighting "nearby," including drones and debris from them. Alexey Likhachev, CEO of the russian state-owned atomic energy corporation Rosatom, said that russian authorities had provided evidence of Ukrainian strikes on the Kursk nuclear power plant, and claimed that "there can be no doubt as to who carried out these strikes."

It is also indicated that the russian propaganda agency TASS also deliberately distorted Grossi's previous statement about his plans to visit the Kursk nuclear power plant, claiming that Grossi said that the actions of Ukrainian forces put it at risk.

"The IAEA acknowledged that russia informed the IAEA that it had found the wreckage of a drone at the Kursk NPP, but the IAEA did not provide any estimates of where the drone came from, and did not provide any evidence to support this russian statement," the analysts said.

In addition, ISW has previously noted that Ukrainian forces have consistently demonstrated the ability to strike deep into russia and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine at distances exceeding approximately 60 kilometers between the Kursk NPP and the border, or approximately 30-40 kilometers from a current Ukrainian naval base in the Kursk Oblast, which indicates, analysts emphasize, that the Ukrainian military command deliberately avoided the task of striking the Kursk NPP.

"The Kremlin regularly tries to portray Ukraine as threatening the russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (Zaporizhzhia NPP), and extended this disinformation operation to Kursk NPP shortly after Ukraine's operation in the Kursk Oblast," the ISW review said.

Also, the russian government-affiliated media deliberately distorted the IAEA statements to align them with russian information operations aimed at portraying Ukraine as threatening the Zaporizhzhia NPP and legitimizing the russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

"The Kremlin is also likely trying to hide its own ongoing threat to the russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP - through the continued militarization of the Zaporizhzhia NPP - by drawing attention to the alleged threat to the Kursk NPP from Ukraine. Russian forces fired at the Zaporizhzhia NPP during its seizure in March 2022 and have maintained and kept ever since operate military equipment on the territory of the station," ISW emphasized.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, stated that there is a risk of a "nuclear incident" at russia's Kursk nuclear power plant due to reactor insecurity.

Earlier, the russian propaganda mass media began to massively spread information about Ukraine's alleged preparations for strikes on the Zaporizhzhia and Kursk nuclear power plants.