Catastrophe looms

Warning of Russian sabotage at nuclear power plant

The Ukrainian military leadership fears a so-called false flag operation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant occupied by Russian troops in the coming days. The general staff in Kiev wrote on Facebook on Sunday that the responsibility for the unspecified action should then be placed on Ukraine's shoulders.

"Russia is the only terrorist in the world holding a nuclear power plant hostage and using it to blackmail Ukraine and the whole world." No one but Russia has ever brought the world so close to the brink of a deliberate nuclear catastrophe.

The potentially largest nuclear power plant in Europe, with a capacity of almost six gigawatts, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the start of Moscow's war of aggression against Ukraine - and later mined.

It came under fire several times, leading to growing international concern about a nuclear accident. Both warring parties repeatedly accuse each other of trying to provoke an incident at the nuclear power plant. All six reactors are now in a cold state.