Ukraine Accuses Russia of Planting Explosives on Roof of Nuclear Power Plant

Meanwhile, Russia is blaming Ukraine of "sabotage."

Explosive Accusations

Ukraine has accused Russia of placing mysterious objects that look like bombs on the roof of one of its power plants — but the finger-pointing doesn't end there.

As The Guardian reported earlier this week, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that his country's intelligence officials have found evidence of "objects resembling explosives" on the roof of the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine.

It's hard to make sense of these accusations as they raise more questions than they can answer.

The Washington Post reports that Russia is also blaming Ukraine, saying that the country's military may "sabotage" the nuclear plant.

We don't even know if there are any explosives to begin with. The United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in its own statement that it hasn't seen any evidence of explosives at the plant, though it would need greater access to be sure.

No You

In short, it's the kind of confusing finger-point that has become a commonplace fixture of the ongoing conflict.

This latest installment of the now 18-month-long Russian invasion of Ukraine is not without precedent, with the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant having been in the news multiple times over the past year.

The station was first seized by Russian troops in February 2022, leading to countless accusations and finger-pointing between the two countries.

Dam Break

Ukrainian officials are now saying that there's an increased chance of radiation accidentally being released from the plant since the dam in Kakhovka, a Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine, collapsed last month, forcing the plant to shut down its last remaining reactor.

Both countries have blamed the dam's explosion on the other, though the New York Times and other outlets have published compelling evidence suggesting that it was carried out by the Kremlin.

As The Guardian notes, neither Russia nor Ukraine have offered much in the way of evidence as to their latest explosive allegations. An expert analysis by the Institute for the Study of War, meanwhile, suggests that Russia is "unlikely" to actually sabotage the plant and that it instead may be accusing Kyiv of orchestrating a propaganda maneuver ahead of the upcoming NATO leaders' summit in Lithuania.

At the end of the day, it appears that Zaporizhizhia is the site of a proxy battle between invader and the invaded — a chilling blame game that neither side is likely to win.

More on Zaporizhizhia: Ukraine Accuses Russia of Using Inflatable "Dummy Tanks," Which Deflated