Russia mines ZNPP cooling pond – Budanov

Russians mined the Zaporizhzhia NPP cooling pond. The Chief of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, announced this.

“The worst thing is that the ZNPP was additionally mined. And the worst thing is that the cooling pond was mined. If they disable it by detonation, there is a high probability of significant problems,” Budanov said.

In addition, the Russians destroyed the regular water access to the ZNPP coolers when they blew up the Kakhovka HPP. The threat of putting the plant out of order exists because the nuclear plant is still under the control of the occupying forces, the head of intelligence emphasized.

Russia uses the ZNPP for nuclear terrorism. Mining of the cooling pond is one of the components of blackmail, an attempt to disrupt the counteroffensive of Ukrainian troops, Oleksandr Musienko, head of the Center for Military and Legal Research, explained.

“Mining the cooling pool, which the chief of military intelligence talked about, can be one of the elements. Theoretically, they can blow up this cooler, which will create a threat of a reactor explosion, although not immediately,” the expert emphasized.

Earlier, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that Russia intends detonate the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to “destabilize the situation in Ukraine.” In addition, the Russian Federation wants the world to pressure Kyiv to stop the war.