By John Erath
On August 11, news broke out of a fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine. Both the Russian and Ukrainian governments immediately blamed each other, but, as with previous incidents, it seems absurd that Ukraine would risk a nuclear incident on its own territory, whereas Russia celebrates its history of destroying things to deny them to an enemy. In all likelihood, the Russian occupiers set the fire themselves, and it is not too difficult to suggest why.
One week earlier, Ukraine surprised Russia, and almost everyone else, with an attack across the border into Russian territory. This incursion accomplished three things almost immediately. First, it reset the narrative that Russia was inching toward victory. Second, it showed Ukraine’s military is capable of achieving success with adequate resources. Finally, it embarrassed the regime by showing Putin could not protect his own people. For Russians weary of war, the promised victory may seem a little farther off. At the same time, there are reports that Russia is diverting troops from elsewhere to defend its territory.
Given Russia’s policy of using nuclear threats to further its war aims, it seems consistent that Moscow would try to slow Ukraine’s momentum by once again calling attention to a possible nuclear disaster. With the war news largely negative for Moscow, the Russian leadership needed a story to divert the media’s attention from its failure to stop Ukraine’s incursion, and explosions and fire at Europe’s largest nuclear plant would be enough to grab headlines. Should the war continue and Russian casualties mount, further attempts to raise the nuclear stakes should be anticipated.
All of which can only be labeled “irresponsible.” It was irresponsible (and illegal) to invade Ukraine to begin with. It was irresponsible to conduct military operations around a nuclear plant, and even more so to start fires at the plant when something goes wrong. An even more disquieting thought is that if the Kremlin’s tactic is successful, it could normalize targeting of nuclear facilities in times of conflict or by terrorists. Once again, nuclear power plants, even those in cold shutdown such as ZNPP, are dangerous places for war. It would be in the interests of all to end not only military activity, but the use of threats, even implied ones, to trigger nuclear disasters. Russia needs to hear from the international community that playing with fire around nuclear reactors is unacceptable.
