Russia Accuses Ukraine of 'Nuclear Blackmail,' Warns of Looming Attack

A Russian official accused Ukraine on Thursday of using its alleged and unconfirmed plans to carry out a "provocation" at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant as "nuclear blackmail."

During an appearance on Russian state television, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Ukraine was planning for this "provocation" to take place during United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' visit to Ukraine on Friday, the Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported.

"This is not just a provocation, this is what we condemned as nuclear blackmail. And what else is it but a long-standing provocation around a nuclear facility, a direct threat to nuclear power? This is certainly an act of nuclear blackmail," Zakharova said.

She added that the alleged blackmail was not just targeting one country or party, but all of Europe. "We are talking about nuclear energy, the whole European continent is being held hostage because this is all in the heart of Europe," Zakharova said.

Ukraine has accused Russia of planning such a provocation itself. Newsweek was not able to independently verify Russia's allegations.

The Zaporizhzhya plant is located in southeastern Ukrainian territory that has been occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the war, but it is still operated by Ukrainian personnel. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations about carrying out dangerous shelling around the plant, the largest in Europe, raising fears of a potential nuclear accident.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has suggested that only Russia can prevent a disaster from happening at the plant. In a tweet Thursday, he noted Russia's expressed concerns about a potential accident and said that the "solution" would be for it to end its alleged shelling,
"demine" buildings, release the Ukrainian workers and leave.

"It's simple, isn't it?" he wrote.

In an address on Saturday, Zelensky accused Russian forces of using the area around the plant to fire at the city of Nikopol, which is located just a few miles away.

"The occupiers are trying to intimidate people in an extremely cynical way, using the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant," he said. "They actually hide behind the plant to fire at Nikopol and [the city of] Marhanets. They arrange constant provocations with shelling of the territory of the nuclear power plant and try to bring their additional forces in this direction to blackmail our state and the entire free world even more."

Ukraine's military intelligence service tweeted Thursday that Russian "occupiers announced an unexpected 'day off' at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station" for Friday.

"On August 19, only operative personnel will be at the ZNPP. Entry to all other employees will be closed," the tweet read.

"From the available information, it becomes clear that the occupiers, after the large-scale shelling of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, can 'raise the stakes' and stage a real terrorist attack on the largest nuclear facility in Europe," the service added in another tweet. "In addition, time this crime to the stay of the UN Secretary General in Ukraine."

Newsweek reached out to the foreign ministries of Russia and Ukraine for comment.