Vladimir Putin’s army has reportedly built fighting positions “on top” of the reactor buildings at the Zaporizhzhia power plant.
It should be remembered that Zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the place where Russian troops settled since the start of the war last year; now, Moscow is preparing to receive an offensive in the Ukraine.
Shelling near the plant has since caused international alarm amid fears of a nuclear disaster if the reactors are damaged with repeated warnings from the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
Several international media have warned that “the actual reactor buildings are being integrated into tactical defense planning”, as published today in the Evening Standard.
Satellite images show that last month, Russian forces had established fighting positions with sandbags on the roofs of several of the six reactor buildings at the plant.
“Russia has likely built these positions because it is increasingly concerned about the prospects of a major Ukrainian offensive,” the Defense Ministry said in its daily Twitter briefing.
“The move is very likely to increase the chances of damage to ZNPP security systems if fighting occurs around ZNPP,” he added. “However, direct catastrophic damage to the reactors is unlikely in most plausible scenarios involving infantry weapons because the structures are heavily reinforced.”
Ukraine is set to launch a long-awaited spring counter-offensive to retake territory in what kyiv has described as a “historic battle in modern Ukrainian history.”
This week, Ukrainian officials said one person was killed and 23 injured, including a child, in a Russian missile attack on an apartment block in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv.
Keep reading:
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