WW3 fears soar as Russia launches 'false flag attacks' on Europe's largest nuclear plant
Europe's largest nuclear facility sustained at least three direct strikes on April 7 - Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the potentially catastrophic attacks.
Drone attacks against the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) earlier this month were part of a "well-planned false flag operation" by Russia, Ukraine has said.
Kyiv's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya told a Security Council meeting on Monday that, "What happened at the ZNPP on 7th and 9th of April 2024 and thereafter was a well-planned false flag operation by the Russian Federation."
According to reports, the nuclear facility - the largest in Europe - sustained at least three direct strikes on April 7, while another drone attack targeted the plant's nearby training centre two days later.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) described the strikes as a "major escalation" sparking fears of a nuclear disaster. Radiation released from the plant would likely spill into NATO countries, sparking fears of World War 3.
The Security Council met on Monday to discuss safety and security at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which has been occupied by Vladimir Putin's forces since March 2022, the month after Russia's invasion began.
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Kyslytsya told UN colleagues that Russia's invasion and occupation were to blame for the attacks and heightened risks at the site.
He also accused the Kremlin of launching a campaign of disinformation and propaganda in an attempt to justify Russia's illegal occupation of the ZNPP.
"We categorically reject the insane allegations that Ukraine may cause nuclear disaster," he said, as per Kyiv Independent.
Moscow has claimed that the April attacks on the facility were carried out by Ukrainian drones, which Kyiv's military intelligence agency (HUR) rejects, describing the latest strike as "Russia's provocation."
Kyslytsya also dismissed the accusation, noting that Moscow allegations suggest "low-power close-range FVP-drones" somehow managed to breach the facility's heavy defences.
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Russian tank is hit directly by Ukrainian artillery, Zaporizhzhia Oblast
IAEA announced last week that all of the plant's six reactors had been put into a state of cold shutdown, but agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi warned Monday's meeting of the Security Council that "We are getting dangerously close to a nuclear accident."
Grossi did not attribute blame for the strikes to either country but called for the "reckless attacks" to cease.
"We cannot sit by and watch as the final weight tips the finely balanced scale," he told the meeting.
Kyslytsya said liberating the facility is "the only way to remove all threats to nuclear safety and security."
