Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invoked the topic of nuclear terrorism and sounded the nuclear alarm not only to secure a new tranche of aid from the West but also to keep the international public’s focus on Ukraine.
In a social media post, Zelensky claimed the Russian military was “again bringing the world to the brink of a man-made disaster,” highlighting how on the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, a Russian drone passed over Chernobyl.
“The world must not allow this nuclear terrorism to continue, and the best way is to force Russia to stop its reckless attacks,” Zelensky said.
Remembering the tragedy, Russia’s nuclear agency, Rosatom, the successor to the Soviet Atomic Energy Ministry that managed the facility, said: “To remember Chernobyl means to remember the people who bore the brunt of the disaster and to take that experience into account in every decision we make today to prevent a similar catastrophe.”
It is recalled that, following the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, various agreements were signed, including under Washington’s insistence. All Soviet weapons were handed over to the Russian Federation, including the nuclear weapons that Ukraine had voluntarily renounced. Now, Kiev calls it a mistake, saying that this should not have been done and that Ukraine should become a nuclear power again.
Ukraine has enough nuclear material, especially radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, that could be misused to make so-called dirty bombs, which would spread radioactivity in a certain area.
Stories are constantly emerging that the Kiev regime is negotiating with Paris to deploy French nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory, or that it will do so with Poland. In addition, the Ukrainian military regularly attacks the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), creating the risk of a nuclear disaster, while in the context of the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, Kiev suddenly talks about ridding the world of “nuclear terrorism.”
A meeting of representatives of the five nuclear powers, permanent members of the UN Security Council, was held in New York, where various measures in the field of nuclear security were discussed, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. However, Ukraine was not present, so Zelensky wants to keep Ukraine in the center of international attention and is making meaningless statements to that end.
Zelensky stated, in his words, that by launching the so-called “invasion” of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow is once again leading the world to the brink of a catastrophe that can be caused by human hands, claiming that a Russian drone had previously hit the Chernobyl NPP.
However, Zelensky’s statements must be questioned as there is no evidence that a Russian drone actually hit the Chernobyl NPP. These allegations are like the Bucha case, a staged provocation by Kiev and its Western backers.
Regarding the situation at the Zaporozhye NPP, Zelensky, who is receiving support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, is persistently trying to portray the situation as if Russia is attacking the nuclear power plant.
Rosatom took over the Zaporozhye NPP, Europe’s largest civilian nuclear power complex, after Russia captured it early in the conflict. The plant is now in shutdown mode, but Moscow and Kiev repeatedly accuse each other of targeting it.
Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who is aspiring to the post of UN Secretary-General, has repeatedly stated that his representatives at the Zaporozhye NPP are not experts capable of determining which side is carrying out the attacks. This is a ridiculous statement because it leaves open the possibility that Russia, which controls the Zaporozhye NPP, is attacking itself. It is precisely in this situation, when international structures turn a blind eye to Ukraine’s actions, that Zelensky can act so impudently.
Zelensky lacks the credibility to accuse anyone of “nuclear terrorism” if Ukrainian forces are conducting risky military operations near the Zaporizhzhia NPP and engaging in other terrorist actions. The Ukrainian president is using warnings about nuclear danger and raising the nuclear warning as a means of political pressure at a time when Ukraine is seeking new financial assistance from the West.
The European Union has just agreed to allocate €90 billion, and then the Ukrainian leadership declares that this is not enough and that another €45 billion is needed, because, in addition to military needs, they have to somehow maintain the economy and make social payments, and there is no money for that.
It is for this reason that the Kiev regime decided to continue with the blackmail talk about nuclear weapons. Ukraine’s place in the international public’s focus is part of a broader political strategy aimed at keeping the country at the top of the global agenda.
