Russian-Controlled Zaporizhzhia Plant Hit by Drone: A False Flag by Moscow?
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, now under Russian control, was targeted by military drones on Sunday. Ukrainian military intelligence reports suggest the Russian military orchestrated this drone attack to frame Ukraine. The potential failure of the plant could spell disaster for the entire region.
6:19 AM EDT, April 10, 2024
Officials running the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, overseen by Russia, reported the drone attack to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). As per the Russian-appointed officials, the attack targeted the power plant's sixth block dome. IAEA observers have confirmed the explosion at the site.
There was one casualty. While damage to block 6 did not pose a direct nuclear threat, it is an incident of concern that could compromise the reactor's safety system integrity, according to the IAEA.
In contrast, Andriy Yermak, spokesman for the Chief Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, attributed the attack on the occupied plant to Russian forces, denouncing it as a typical "false flag" operation.
They resorted to using FPV drones to fake an attack ostensibly by Ukraine. Let me be crystal clear: Ukraine categorically refrains from any military operations or provocations at nuclear sites," Andriy Yermak remarked.
A tactic familiar to the Russians
"False flag" operations have long been a staple in Russian strategy, tracing back to the Tsarist Secret Police and Bolshevik provocateurs' days. In the more recent past, Soviet leaders like Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov propagated the notion that America was plotting a nuclear strike against the USSR. Andropov even launched a campaign aimed at convincing the populace that a nuclear conflict was imminent.
Europe's largest nuclear power plant has been at the heart of the conflict ever since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and its subsequent control over the facility. The IAEA has voiced its concerns multiple times over the potential for a nuclear catastrophe.
The ongoing conflict has seen both Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of launching attacks on the plant, situated close to the front lines. Any actual damage to the facility risks catastrophic outcomes not just for Ukraine and Russia but for the wider region, given the continued presence of Russian military elements there.
