At Energoatom, a headquarters has been created for round-the-clock monitoring of the situation around the Zaporizhzhia NPP. This was announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Denys Monastyrskyi, during a briefing in Zaporizhzhia. The event was held with the participation of the Minister of Energy of Ukraine and the Chairman of Energoatom. They discussed the situation surrounding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, held a meeting, and checked the readiness of all services, forces, and means for possible threats.
"When we first met with the capture of the station, and let me remind you, the station was guarded by the National Guard, and in fact, no one could predict that Russian troops would shoot from tanks at the blocks of the ZNPP. This happened for the first time in our history of observing nuclear facilities. We understand that we are dealing with a terrorist state, and accordingly, all responsibility for what is happening at the station lies with the Russian Federation," said the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
He reminded that ZNPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine are preparing for various scenarios.
The Minister of Energy of Ukraine, Herman Galushchenko, assured that everything happening now is a classic sign of nuclear terrorism.
According to the leaders, there are currently about 500 armed Russian army soldiers at the station, who have placed heavy equipment there, namely almost 50 units: BMP, military Urals, tanks.
According to the head of Energoatom, Petro Kotin, one of the likely scenarios is the disconnection of the Zaporizhzhia ZNPP from the Ukrainian network, which will not be able to work as a result. He emphasized: "What's really bad is that in the last 2-3 weeks, they drove equipment to the warehouses of power units #1 and #2. In fact, this means that the power unit is mined because we think that there are explosives and other explosive material and weapons in the trucks."
Regarding cases of emergency situations, as well as the evacuation of citizens, Denys Monastyrskyi said: "They are designed. Now, in fact, the purpose of our visit was to summarize the readiness of forces and means. It is difficult to predict what other scenarios we should expect from the enemy."
According to him, currently, a headquarters has been created at Energoatom, which includes all forces of rescuers, police and representatives of local authorities. They will respond according to the threat. It will work 24/7 and monitor the situation around the Zaporizhzhya NPP online.
Regarding possible reactions from international organizations, the leaders emphasized that they have been waiting for it since the first days of the forced seizure of the station.
Herman Galushchenko said: "From the first days, we have been discussing the need for a response from international organizations. In fact, the issue is that the mission, which is now widely discussed, should involve the involvement of UN military experts, because today the issue is already related to the military, after what was done there. We hope that this possible mission to the station will somehow stop the audacity that is happening there, but it is difficult to count on mental behavior on the part of the Russians," Herman Galushchenko added.
During the briefing, the leaders got acquainted with the work of the special point, conducting radiation survey, and the work of the mobile consultation point for training and informing the population.
They also saw the possibilities of a special machine unique to Ukraine that monitors chemical and radiation pollution in the surrounding area.
During the working trip, Denys Monastyrsky held an extended meeting with the heads of central and local authorities regarding the situation around the Zaporizhzhya NPP. Also, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the head of the National Police introduced the new head of the Main Office of the National Police in the Zaporizhia Region, Artem Kysko.
"Here, in Zaporizhzhia, the police is in fact a twin brother of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Therefore, Zaporizhzhia police officers remain on the front lines," said the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
