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Speaking at a media briefing, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia\u2019s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces (RChBD), claimed that one of Ukraine\u2019s priority targets for the August incursion \u2013 which has since been contained \u2013 was the Kursk nuclear power plant, located some 60km from the border, RT reported.<\/p>\n
He also claimed that the Defense Ministry had gained access to a report from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, which dismissed any dangers to the country stemming from this operation. The document, the general said, insisted that \u201conly the Russian Federation would be exposed to radioactive contamination in the event of an accident\u201d because of the direction of the wind.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, it is more likely that the situation could have developed according to a completely different scenario\u2026 In the event of a large-scale accident at the NPP, radioactive substances would have spread over a significant part of Europe, as was the case with the accident at the Chernobyl NPP,\u201d Kirillov pointed out.<\/p>\n
The Defense Ministry also noted that Kyiv had planned to commit 20,000 troops, 27 tanks, 50 armored vehicles, and dozens of artillery pieces and missile systems to the push to capture the facility.<\/p>\n
After failing to seize the Kursk NPP, Ukraine tried to recapture the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest facility of its kind in Europe, which has been under Russian control since the early days of the conflict, Kirillov said. According to the general, Ukrainian special forces had planned to achieve this goal, but the operation was thwarted by the pre-emptive actions of Russian troops.<\/p>\n
Kirillov also accused Ukraine of long-standing \u201cnuclear blackmail.\u201d In particular, he cited Vladimir Zelensky\u2019s stated plan to make the country a nuclear power again in February 2022, and his recent conversation with Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump, in which the Ukrainian leader asked for accelerated NATO membership, or permission to acquire nuclear weapons to deter Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe special military operation has prevented Ukraine from implementing its own nuclear program,\u201d the general said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.<\/p>\n
He warned, however, that Kyiv has sufficient technical expertise to create a \u201cdirty bomb,\u201d a combination of conventional explosives with radioactive material that can spread radiation over a targeted area.<\/p>\n
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