Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the specter of a “dirty bomb” incident at a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant while contemplating retaliation for an apparent Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow.
“Ukrainian citizens need to understand that there are other threats as well, for instance, attempts to disrupt the operation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant or use ‘dirty’ devices related to nuclear technology,” Putin said Tuesday. “We have talked about this more than once. We know what they have in mind.”
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Putin attributed such a plot to Ukrainian authorities, reiterating an accusation previously aired by Russian defense officials in October — and perceived around the world as a thinly veiled Russian threat of nuclear escalation in response to Ukraine’s fall counteroffensive. He renewed that allegation moments after broaching the topic of retaliation for the Tuesday morning drone attack, which caused only “minor damage” but shocked Moscow’s government and paramilitary elites, as U.N. officials scrambled to avoid a military showdown for control of the plant.
“I am not even so much concerned about this as over the attempts to trigger a Russian response,” Putin said immediately before mentioning the nuclear power plant. “Apparently, they are provoking us into responding in a like manner. We will have to consider how to approach this.”
The comment evokes Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu’s ominous phone calls with his Western counterparts in October when Moscow claimed that Ukrainian forces were plotting a false flag attack involving a dirty bomb at the power plant. Western governments panned the allegation as “transparently false,” and officials and analysts based in Ukraine regarded it as a sign that Russian officials were conducting a “fear campaign” to try to deter further Ukrainian counterattacks.
Putin’s allegation also comes on the heels of a dueling accusation by Ukrainian intelligence officials, who claimed Friday that Russia was planning to simulate a nuclear crisis at the power plant in an attempt to induce international authorities to demand a ceasefire before Ukraine’s long-expected counteroffensive. Whereas Shoigu’s accusation was widely perceived as a sign of a potential new escalation from Russia, the Ukrainian claim did not provoke an analogous outpouring of suspicion.
“Their own people, they have suffered Chernobyl as well, so, definitely not,” a senior European official told the Washington Examiner. "A democratic state, it [would] come out sooner or later. So, at the moment, I think, Ukraine is just faster [in] releasing this information. There’s a competition there as well ... [to force] the other side to redo its plans or react to the release of information.”
Putin broached the topic as the U.N. Security Council huddled to discuss the danger of a military clash at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, where "Russian forces ... have progressively been taking control,” according to a recent report from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“There should be no attack, of any kind, from or against the plant; in particular, targeting the reactors, spent-fuel storage, other critical infrastructure, or personnel,” IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi told the Security Council. "ZNPP should not be used as storage or a base for heavy weapons — for example, multiple rocket launchers, artillery systems and munitions and tanks or military personnel that could be used for an attack from a plant.”
Grossi offered that exhortation among a series of “concrete principles” to avoid “a catastrophic incident” at the plant. Russia’s top diplomat at the Security Council denied responsibility for any of the danger.
“Heavy weapons and ammunition have never been deployed at the plant,” Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said. “By the same token, there is no military personnel at the nuclear facility that could be used to launch attacks from the plant’s territory.”
Ukraine’s envoy pledged that "we will never resort to any action that could lead to a nuclear incident” but stopped short of renouncing all efforts to retake the plant.
“Russia continues to actively use the nuclear plant for military purposes, deploying there about 500 military personnel and 50 units of heavy weaponry,” Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko said. “Equipment, munitions, and explosives are located in the turbine buildings of units number one, two, and four of the plant. The threat of [a] dangerous accident as a result of these irresponsible and criminal actions hangs over us.”
British intelligence officials released images last month purportedly showing that “Russian forces had established sandbag fighting positions on the roofs of several of the six reactor buildings” at the nuclear plant.
"Russia’s control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is illegal and continues to pose a serious threat to the facility’s safe and secure functioning," British Ambassador Barbara Woodward told the council. "Unauthorized military vehicles and stores sit in turbine halls. Landmines in the vicinity of the plant endanger Ukrainian operating staff and delay maintenance work."
U.S. and French officials echoed the British accusations in their statements during the council meeting. “To make matters worse, recent news reports indicate that Moscow has disconnected Zaporizhzhia vital radiation monitoring sensors, which means the plant’s data is now being sent to the Russian nuclear regulator,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. "This is a clear escalation of Russia’s efforts to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty and authority over the Zaporizhzhia plant. And this undermines our ability to have confidence in the level of nuclear safety at the plant.”
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The IAEA chief expressed optimism after the meeting that "it is clear for everyone that there is a consensus on the fact that no nuclear accident should happen" at the plant.
"We are going to be able to interact with the management there and to inform about the possibility of mines outside or inside the plant," Grossi told reporters. "For the moment, we don't see heavy military equipment there. We are going to be continuing our reporting about it."