Kiev believed any possible accident at the Kursk NPP spelled no danger on its side of the border, the MOD has said
Kiev believed any possible accident at the Kursk NPP spelled no danger on its side of the border, the MOD has said
The Defense Ministry also noted that Kiev had planned to commit 20,000 troops, 27 tanks, 50 armored vehicles and dozens of artillery pieces and missile systems to the push to capture the facility.
After failing to seize the Kursk NPP, Ukraine tried to recapture the Zaporozhye NPP, the largest facility of its kind in Europe, which has been under Russian control since the early days of the conflict, Kirillov said. According to the general, Ukrainian special forces had planned to achieve this goal, but the operation was thwarted by the pre-emptive actions of Russian troops.
Kirillov also accused Ukraine of long-standing “nuclear blackmail.” In particular, he cited Vladimir Zelensky’s stated plan to make the country a nuclear power again in February 2022, and his recent conversation with Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump, in which the Ukrainian leader asked for accelerated NATO membership, or permission to acquire nuclear weapons to deter Russia.
“The special military operation has prevented Ukraine from implementing its own nuclear program,” the general said, warning, however, that Kiev has sufficient technical expertise to create a “dirty bomb,” a combination of conventional explosives with radioactive material that can spread radiation over a targeted area.
