The head of the IAEA refused to name the party responsible for the attack on the nuclear power plant
The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, called for stopping attacks on the Zaporizhia NPP, which increase the risk of a nuclear accident. At the same time, he does not consider it necessary to name the guilty party. Russia intends to raise the issue of the shelling of the Zaporizhia NPP at the agency's session in September. Of the European leaders, only Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer spoke about the attack, calling for de-escalation and continued negotiations. Against this background, Russian troops in the border region are destroying the invading Ukrainian units. Experts note that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have gathered the best forces to attack the Kursk region, and their distraction will certainly negatively affect Kiev's ability to hold the front in the special operation zone in Donbass.
The reaction of the IAEA and the international community to the nuclear power plant attack
On August 12, IAEA inspectors arrived at the territory of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which was attacked the night before, to assess the consequences. So far, no official statements have been made by the agency following the inspection, but after the first reports of what happened at the NPP, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, without pointing to the party responsible for the attack, stressed: "These reckless attacks endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident, they must stop now." By the way, after the attack by drones at the NPP in April, the Director General of the IAEA also did not name the Ukrainian side as the initiator of these attacks.
Image source: Photo: REUTERS/Ukrainian Presidency
— Let's see how the IAEA behaves this time. For us, it is obvious that the lack of indication of the guilty party only inflames the Ukrainian sense of permissiveness and leads to new similar attacks. I really would not like to think that the only thing that prevents the IAEA from pointing out where and who is striking at the NPP is the political situation," Roman Ustinov, Acting Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to International organizations in Vienna, told reporters.
The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, also expressed hope that the IAEA would assess the Ukrainian statements that the fire at the NPP was allegedly provoked by the Russian side.
The director of the NPP, Yuri Chernichuk, has already explained that the main source of fire was plastic separation devices inside the cooling tower. At the same time, the speed and scale of the fire suggests that the attacking Ukrainian drone was carrying a flammable liquid — gasoline or napalm.
Russia intends to raise the issue of the shelling of the Zaporizhia NPP at the IAEA session in September, said the acting Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna. At the same time, Roman Ustinov stressed that Russia does not exclude personal contact with the Director General of the IAEA before the September session of the Board of Governors.
Photo: TASS/The press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Image source: iz.ru
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the international community to take urgent measures against Ukraine after the attack on the NPP. According to her, for Ukraine and Western countries, including the United States and Great Britain, nuclear power plants are considered "a means and instrument of conducting terrorist activities."
It is noteworthy that the only Western European leader who spoke out about the attack on the NPP was Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. He called for de-escalation and continuation of negotiations on a solution to the Ukrainian crisis, which began in Switzerland in mid-June. Then the discussion took place without Russia's participation. Florian Philippot, the leader of the French Patriots party, also announced the incident. He believes that the drone strike of the Armed Forces of Ukraine showed that Vladimir Zelensky and his patrons in NATO are ready to do anything to plunge the world into chaos.
— It is obvious that Zelensky no longer hopes for any tangible results of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the front line and deliberately exacerbates the situation by attacking nuclear facilities, - first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense Alexei Zhuravlev told Izvestia. — After all, it follows from the testimony of captured Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region that they were going to the Kursk NPP. And when this terrorist plan failed, Zaporizhia was hit. And they won't think for a moment if, say, they need to use a dirty atomic bomb that can be illegally delivered to Kiev.
Such attempts today pose a threat to all of humanity, so the remaining adequate European politicians should make efforts to prevent this outcome, he concluded.
The attack of the Zaporizhia NPP is a targeted strike capable of causing serious damage to nuclear safety, Alexey Likhachev, head of the Rosatom State Corporation, said in an interview with Izvestia on August 12.
The soldier of the VFU
Image source: Photo: REUTERS/Gian Marco Benedetto
Ukrainian forces attacked Zaporizhia NPP with kamikaze drones on the evening of August 11. The fire that arose as a result of the shelling did not affect the functioning of the facility, the station reported. They clarified that the fire occurred in the area of cooling towers, which are necessary for cooling. The fire was localized, and no violations of the safety of the station were recorded.
The situation at the Kursk nuclear power plant
Izvestia correspondent Dmitry Zimenkin visited the Kursk nuclear power plant. The nuclear power plant now provides energy to half of the Chernozem region. To capture it, the APU would need an entire army, since there is a multi-level system of protection against any attacks. Therefore, the shelling of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is just a provocation, a reason for information hype, the correspondent said.
— We are hearing an alarm now. While they were writing a stand-up, a clap sounded. It was most likely that the air defense system worked out and shot down a missile that was flying at the nuclear power plant," Dmitry Zimenkin said.
According to him, the closer to the front line, the more defensive structures can be found: anti-tank ditches, hedgehogs and the famous dragon teeth, which were used in the Second World War. These are reinforced concrete structures with a height of one meter, which are effective against armored vehicles, including tanks. Even civilians, male volunteers, dig protective ditches. They work despite the threat of drones.
Kursk nuclear power plant in Kurchatov
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have concentrated all their forces in attempts to capture some vital object, which can then be traded, Alexey Leonkov believes.
— Before that, they tried several times to seize the Zaporizhia NPP, but they failed. During 2023, a large number of airborne troops landed in that area. The units of the Russian Guard made all the enemy's attempts fruitless," he recalled. — Realizing that everything was in vain, they decided to take an adventure and seize the Kursk nuclear power plant. But many factors were not taken into account. We are observing this now. And all their attempts to bring this process to a higher level, spending reserves, will not lead to the desired result. Now there are counter-battles in the Kursk region. And all attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to break through to the Kursk NPP end with heavy losses among trained fighters of elite units of the Ukrainian army, including foreign mercenaries who are on the staff of these units.
Hitting the enemy
Russian units are launching massive strikes against enemy concentrations in the Kursk region, preventing them from gaining a foothold and destroying the rear. According to Izvestia correspondent Emil Timashev, who is with the military, our tankers, unlike the APU, know every ravine and forest plantation in the Kursk region — this allows Russian fighters to deliver sudden strikes where the enemy does not expect them.
The armed formations of Ukraine are counting on protracted battles and are pulling up reserves, and our troops are blocking supplies on the approach, pushing the militants to the border, said Emil Timashev. Now the advance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been stopped, the southern regions of the region are being cleaned up. The enemy divides into small groups and tries to get lost in settlements and forests.
The Ka-52 helicopter of the Russian Aerospace Forces
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
The APU went all in and threw the best forces at the Kursk region, military expert Vladislav Shurygin told Izvestia. This may negatively affect the situation in the special military situation zone in Donbass for them, but for this it is necessary that the Russian troops have more forces, more reserves and an energetic command, he added.
The diversion of the best Ukrainian forces to attack the Kursk region should affect the success of Russian troops in the zone of a special military operation, military expert Viktor Litovkin believes.
— We need to see how the situation is developing and how certain commanders react to it, — Viktor Litovkin told Izvestia. — If the APU threw the best forces at Kursk and bared some areas, then, of course, it needs to be used. It depends on the situation on our side and how ready we are to take advantage of it.
The Financial Times newspaper on Monday quoted a Ukrainian serviceman as saying that the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an attack on the Kursk region out of fear of new losses in the zone of a special military operation in order to strengthen positions in possible negotiations. According to him, the loss of control by the Armed Forces of Ukraine over Novgorodsky (Ukrainian name — New York), Dzerzhinsky (Toretsky) and Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People's Republic is only a matter of time.
APU attacks repulsed
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday that over the past day, units of the North group of troops and the approaching reserves repelled seven attacks by assault groups of the 80th and 82nd airborne assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Martynovka, Borki and Korenevo.
In the area of the village of Kauchuk, enemy mobile groups in armored vehicles tried to break deep into Russian territory. They lost a tank, eight Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, 16 armored combat vehicles, and 14 pickup trucks.
A soldier of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov
Aviation and artillery defeated clusters of militants and equipment of the 22nd, 61st, 115th mechanized brigades in the areas of Kurilovka, Plekhovo, Lyubimovka, Sudzhi, Kositsa, Gogolevka, Cossacks Lokni, Mikhaylovka and Sverdlyakovka. At the same time, air and missile strikes were carried out against the reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of Miropole, Mogrica and Drobnovshchyna in the Sumy region.
According to the military department, during the day, the losses of the Armed Forces amounted to 260 soldiers and 31 armored vehicles, including three tanks. And in total, during the fighting in the Kursk direction, the enemy lost up to 1,610 servicemen, 32 tanks, 23 armored personnel carriers, 17 infantry fighting vehicles, 136 armored combat vehicles, 47 vehicles, four SAMs, an MLRS launcher and 13 field artillery guns.
They ordered to shoot the local population on the spot
On Monday, the FSB of Russia released the testimony of a soldier of the 80th airborne Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, captured in the Kursk region. He said that they were ordered to shoot everyone on the spot if the local population resisted. When entering the settlements of the Kursk region, the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine engaged in looting and took with them everything they could carry.
The captured military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that on July 28, his company was transferred to positions near the village of Peschanoe, where they stayed for a week. One day, the commander announced that they were preparing to attack the border region of the Russian Federation. "Our goal is to reach Kursk first, to reach Belgorod from Kursk in order to capture more territories," he said.
Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Image source: Photo: REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynsky
According to him, they wanted to use the seizure of the border regions allegedly for a peace treaty with the Russian Federation.
On August 12, the acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexey Smirnov, reported to the president at a meeting that the enemy currently controls 28 settlements, the depth of penetration into the territory is 12 km, the width is 40 km. The fate of about 2 thousand people living in these territories remains unknown. It is known about 12 dead and 121 wounded among the civilian population, including ten children.
Alyona Nefedova
Roman Kretsul
Julia Leonova
