Officials od Russia allegedly advised workers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor to skip Friday’s shift, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. In view of news and rumors that a plant incident is allegedly being “prepared” for Friday in both Russia and Ukraine, this is to be said.
On Thursday, Russia threatened to shut down the plant, claiming that the continued shelling of the region by Ukraine raised the possibility of a man-made tragedy. According to Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Defence Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, the situation in Ukraine is completely different.
“There is new information, it arrived about a half-hour ago, that there is a directive for the majority of the workforce not to report to work tomorrow, August 19,” Yusov told NBC News. The Russians told their people—particularly Rosatom staff members—this. Rosatom is the country’s nuclear reactor organization.
He suggested that this might be evidence that Russia is arranging “large-scale provocations” at the power plant on Friday. We don’t rule out the possibility that tomorrow there will be significant Russian provocations on ZNPP land. Their propaganda, information from our sources, and Russian station behavior—he was alluding to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor—all provide confirmation of this.
The existence of Rosatom employees in Zaporizhzhia was not confirmed nor denied by Russia. The Russian defense ministry asserted earlier on Thursday that the Ukrainian government and its “US handlers” were seeking to fabricate a “minor accident” at the plant in southern Ukraine on Friday in order to pin the blame on Russia.
The “provocation” may have featured a radioactive leak, and it may have been planned to coincide with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ trip to Ukraine, the article said.
Russia frequently shelled Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear reactor site in Europe, after it invaded Ukraine almost six months ago. Moscow and Kiev traded allegations.
