Ukraine is expected to launch a large-scale attack on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) overnight, a senior Russian atomic energy industry official warned late on Tuesday. Kiev may also strike the plant with a missile stuffed with radioactive waste, he added.
The warning was voiced by Renat Karchaa, a senior aide to the head of Rosenergoatom, a subsidiary to Russia’s state-owned atomic energy giant Rosatom. The official cited intelligence data received by the industry.
“On July 5, literally overnight, while it’s still dark, Ukrainian forces will attempt an attack on the Zaporozhye plant with long-range high-precision munitions, as well as suicide drones,” he told Rossiya 24 TV channel.
Kiev is also expected to attempt a strike on the plant with a heavy, Soviet-made Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile, Karchaa went on. The munition has been filled with radioactive waste collected from the South-Ukrainian nuclear power plant, the official claimed.
While Karchaa did not elaborate, the apparent goal of the secondary attack is to cause an uptick in radioactivity readings in the region should the main launch fail to damage the facility enough to cause the release of hazardous materials into the air.
Christ almighty, these nutjobs might actually try and do it. If what Karchaa says is true, then they’ll send a dirty bomb inside a cruise missile, which would guarantee radioactive emissions (apparently since the fuel rods were long since cold, there was no real danger of a conventional attack causing an actual radioactive disaster). What do they want from this? Actual NATO intervention? Nothing good can come from such a disaster.
They say the radiation would be blown through Novorossiya and Russia since the wind’s blowing east rn.
How do you even retaliate against something like this? What kind of red line is being crossed by literally irradiating enemy territory? Is Kiev gonna be nuked or something?
Well it’s an act of radiological terror. A war crime.
How they retaliate would be up to them. They likely wouldn’t use nukes (America’s policy for a response to a radiological attack on US soil by contrast would likely be a nuclear weapon if done by a nation state) but could do anything.