Europe faces nuclear catastrophe from Ukrainian terrorism

Russia's domestic intelligence service, the FSB, has announced that it has foiled several Ukrainian terrorist attacks on Russian nuclear power plants. What dangers could arise from such attacks and what can Russia do to stop Ukraine's nuclear terrorism?

On Thursday, it became known that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) was able to thwart an attempt by Ukraine's foreign intelligence service to blow up over 9 electricity pylons of two nuclear power plants in the Leningrad and Tver regions in the run-up to May 30. The terrorists managed to blow up a power pole and mine four more power pylons of the Leningrad nuclear power plant, as well as provide seven power poles of the Kalinin nuclear power plant with explosive devices.

Russian law enforcement detained the members of the sabotage group: Ukrainian nationals Alexandr Majstruk, born in 1978, nicknamed "Mechanic", and Eduard Ussatenko, born in 1974, nicknamed "Max". In addition, the Russian citizen Yuri Kishchak, born in 1963, nicknamed "JuBK", was put on the wanted list. According to investigators, he is currently in Belgium.

The FSB explained that the saboteurs were recruited in September 2022 by the employee of the Ukrainian foreign intelligence service Colonel Vitaly Gorbatyuk and trained in camps in the Kiev and Nikolayev regions. Later, they came to Belarus from Ukraine through Poland and illegally crossed the Russian-Belarusian border in the Pskov region.

In addition, two henchmen of the saboteurs were detained – Russian citizens who provided the perpetrators with telecommunications equipment and cars with fake numbers. Of those arrested, 36.5 kilograms of C-4 plastic explosives, 61 electric detonators, 38 timers and two PM pistols with ammunition were seized.

According to the FSB, the explosives were smuggled from the Polish city of Chełm to Šalčininkai in Lithuania via international freight forwarders, and from there via Belarus to the Rzhev district of the Russian Tver region. For camouflage, a pendant equipped with secret compartments was used.

The saboteurs were charged under the criminal offenses of "sabotage" and "illegal acquisition, transfer, disposal, storage, transport, shipment or carrying of explosives or explosive devices" under the Russian Criminal Code. The first article provides for up to 20 years in prison, the second between six and eight years in prison.

On a video released by the FSB, you can see how the Ukrainian saboteurs set up a hiding place with explosives, detonators and timers. Another video shows an explosive device attached to a power pole, fallen power poles, and finally the arrest of the suspects. Later, the saboteurs revealed where they kept the explosives and components for the manufacture of explosive devices.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the sabotage attempt at the Leningrad and Kalinin nuclear power plants testifies to the ongoing hostilities of Kiev. He stressed that the responsibility for the sabotage attempt lies with terrorists and that Russian judicial authorities continue to fight the terrorists.

However, this was not Ukraine's first attempt to damage objects belonging to the Russian nuclear industry. The target of most attacks has long been the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which is frequently shelled by the Ukrainian military. This is also pointed out by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose inspectors are located in the power plant.

At the beginning of May, the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, said that the situation around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant was becoming increasingly unpredictable and dangerous. The IAEA chief expressed extreme concern about the "quite real risks to nuclear and physical safety to which the nuclear power plant is exposed." The shelling by Kyiv's military is not the only threat posed by Ukraine.

A possible dam burst due to the largest flood to date in the Kakhovka reservoir could, for example, lead to the flooding of the site of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. This was warned by the adviser to the head of the Russian Atomic Energy Agency Rosatom, Renat Karchaa. According to him, cable lines for cooling ponds and pumping equipment could be flooded, which would entail "functional problems in the operation" of the nuclear power plant, as well as risks to nuclear safety. At the time, the newspaper Vsglyad analyzed how Ukraine was preparing a second Fukushima on the Dnieper.

Experts are sure that the possible consequences of such acts of sabotage and attacks of Ukraine are known, but ignored. In the event of an accident at the nuclear power plant, not only Russia, but also a number of European countries would be affected. Therefore, an immediate international response to Ukraine's actions is urgently needed.

"We see an absolute disregard for international nuclear safety rules. Unlike our adversary, as part of the special operation, we are trying to exclude all nuclear objects from the combat operations. Ukraine, on the other hand, does not seem to have any stop signals," said Alexei Anpilogov, a nuclear energy expert and president of the Foundation for Scientific Research and Development of Civil Initiatives "Osnovaniye".

"Any sabotage of a nuclear power plant is an extremely dangerous idea. It should be understood that there are also a number of systems outside the power plant that are essential for its operation. Their failure can seriously affect the safety of the power plant itself. The main purpose of the power lines is to transfer the electrical energy to the general grid. In addition, in the event of an emergency, a nuclear power plant uses the lines to supply electricity to its own systems," the expert added.

"Their supply is thus diverted to the external power lines when the reactor, which supplies energy to the main pumps via its turbines, comes to a standstill. A failure of the power lines itself is unpleasant, but not critical. The nuclear power plant has to make a so-called hot stop, i.e. shut down the reactors and stop feeding electricity into the grid. This leads to controlled power cuts among consumers," Ampilogow explained.

"However, if there is an attack or explosion on the territory of the power plant itself or, for example, if the reserve diesel generators are damaged, this brings the power plant very close to a nuclear accident. Of course, the Leningrad and Kalinin NPPs are equipped with new reactors that are resistant to such failures. However, there is still a fundamental danger," says Ampilogow.

"Undoubtedly, if a terrorist attack were carried out successfully, it would have consequences not only for Russia, but also for European states. The Baltics, for example, are still connected to us by an energy ring. The Baltic countries would be directly affected by an accident at the Leningrad nuclear power plant. For other European countries, the consequences would be less serious, because they hardly get any electricity from Russia," the expert explained.

"What's more, if the adversary were to damage the reactor or other essential areas of the power plant, a nuclear accident would probably be inevitable. Then the wind direction would determine who suffers the most from the consequences. Within reach of the Leningrad nuclear power plant are Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia – countries to which the wind could carry the radioactive emission."

"The attempt to sabotage the Leningrad and Kalinin nuclear power plants once again confirms a well-known fact: Ukrainian terrorism is flourishing at the state level. The criminals do not shy away from nuclear threats that could cause major technical disasters and affect the whole of Europe," Konstantin Dolgov, a member of the Federation Council and former deputy ambassador of Russia to the UN, told the Vsglyad newspaper.

"Obviously, the shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant was only the beginning, a warm-up before the other targets, so to speak. Therefore, our country acts in the role of a global protector. We want to eliminate terrorists who not only attack Russian citizens, but also do not shy away from causing global emergencies," he noted.

"Of course, without international cooperation, it will be difficult to defeat such brazen criminals. But even in Western countries there are people, including politicians, who are beginning to understand who the EU and the US are supporting. The eyes of Europeans are slowly beginning to open and we are trying our best to convey the truth to them," Dolgov stressed.

"Russia appears in the UN, in the IAEA, shows concrete examples of terrorist attacks. Of course, we are encountering fierce resistance. This emanates, among other things, from Washington, which became the main lobbyist for the crimes of the Zelensky regime. Unfortunately, the influence of the United States remains very strong, because many countries are simply afraid to oppose the hegemon," the senator stressed.

"Nevertheless, we take a sober look at the situation that has arisen. We know that our cause is just. Therefore, we will not stop conveying our view of events. Russia is cautiously and gradually eliminating a global threat, and the actions of the FSB to thwart an international tragedy at the nuclear power plant once again show that we are working effectively," Dolgov summed up.

Read more of our GR Analysis