Ukraine tried to liberate ZNPP three times – head of intelligence

The Special Forces of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine tried three times to liberate Enerhodar and Zaporizhzhia NPP, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said in an interview with NV. However, all operations failed.

The Ukrainian military tried to land on the left bank of the Dnipro River to create a bridgehead for the liberation of the occupied Enerhodar and the ZNPP. The first attempt was made last year in August. The special forces crossed the then full-water Kakhovka reservoir on high-speed boats in the Enerhodar area. However, the military managed to retreat due to insufficient artillery support.

Subsequently, the reconnaissance team tried to land on the left bank twice more. Several hundred people participated in the last attempt. The operation failed due to “management and executive deficiencies,” Budanov explained.

“As the intelligence gained experience from landing to landing, the Russians in this area became more and more prepared. And at the moment of the third amphibious operation, they brought heavy military equipment, including tanks, to the very shore,” the NV report says.

The skills that Ukrainian special forces gained during the “Enerhodar operation” helped the military during the landing in Crimea in August 2023, the head of intelligence said.

The Russians occupied the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant last year in March. Since then, the occupiers have been torturing and abusing the workers of the Zaporizhzhia NPP and residents of the station’s satellite town, Enerhodar. The invaders have placed military equipment on the station’s territory and are blackmailing the world with nuclear terrorism. Recently, the International Atomic Energy Agency called on Russia to immediately return the Zaporizhia NPP to Ukrainian control.

The Ukrainian World Congress also calls on the international community to strongly condemn Russia for its nuclear terrorism and impose harsh sanctions on it.