It is not yet known whether the commander of the garrison of Russian invaders at the Zaporozhye NPP, Valeriy Vasilyev, really threatened to blow up the power plant if the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberate the south of Ukraine, but it is known for sure that the Russians are deliberately militarizing the territory of the power plant to intimidate Western countries. This opinion was expressed by experts from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW[see_also ids\u003d"

On August 8, a screenshot appeared from the Russian social network Vkontakte, with a quote from the head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection forces of the RF Armed Forces, the commander of the ZNPP garrison, Valery Vasiliev, in which he said: “There will be either Russian land here - or a scorched desert”. This is a direct threat to blow up the now occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant if the Ukrainians continue to try to de-occupy the southern regions.

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ISW experts doubt the authenticity of this screenshot, including the fact that Vasilyev really said this phrase. However, they have no doubts that the Russians brought a lot of military equipment and ammunition into the ZNPP territory.. And Vasiliev's dubious phrase, according to experts, distracts from the real threat created by the Russians.

“These likely distortions divert attention from the very real risks of Russia’s militarization of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which could include mining the plant and almost certainly include the dangerous storage of military weapons near nuclear reactors and nuclear waste storage,” the ISW report says.. “Russian forces are likely using the threat of a nuclear holocaust to dampen the West’s desire to provide military support to the Ukrainian counteroffensive.”.

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Recall that the Russian invaders fired at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant not for the first time, and then there was also a threat to arrange a nuclear catastrophe. If it happens, the head of the Department of Mathematical Modeling of the Environment at the Institute for Problems of Mathematical Machines and Systems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Ivan Kovalets, not only the south of Ukraine, along with the occupied Crimea, but also Bulgaria, Romania and the Black Sea, including Turkey, will fall into the affected area.