Russia claims to foiled Ukrainian attempt to seize a nuclear power plant

• Ukrainian naval force attempted to land on the coast of a lake near the Zaporizhzhia plant.
• Russia says its forces foiled attack with strikes from military helicopters and fighter jets.
• Plant was captured by Russian forces in March, but is still connected to Ukrainian power grid.

In an attack on the facility on Friday night, Ukrainian forces attempted to capture the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Russia’s defence ministry said in its daily briefing on Saturday.

According to the ministry, at around 11 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) on Friday, a Ukrainian naval force of more than 250 troops attempted to land on the coast of a lake near the Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine.

“Despite the presence of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) representatives at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the Kyiv regime attempted to seize the plant once more,” the defence ministry said.

Russia claimed that its forces foiled the attack with strikes from military helicopters and fighter jets, destroying 20 Ukrainian vessels and scattering others, forcing the attack to be called off.

The report could not be verified by Reuters.

In recent months, Kyiv and Moscow have traded accusations about attacks on the power plant, Europe’s largest nuclear energy station.

The plant was captured by Russian forces in March, but it is still connected to the Ukrainian power grid and is run by Ukrainian workers.

The IAEA sent a mission to the nuclear plant this week amid concerns an escalation could trigger a Chornobyl-style nuclear disaster on the European continent.

Both Russia and Ukraine have said the situation is grave and the risk of a nuclear catastrophe is high. Ukraine and the West have said Russia is using the site as a base for heavy weapons in a move to discourage Ukraine from firing on it.

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday denied Russia had heavy weapons at or near the power plant and accused Ukraine of committing “nuclear terrorism” through its attacks on the facility.

On Saturday morning, a representative of the Russian-installed regime in occupied Zaporizhzhia stated that the situation at the plant was calm.

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