A Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) group of over 600 troops from elite units took part in an operation to seize the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZNPP) on 19 October 2022, which ended in failure for Kiev. This was reported by the British newspaper The Times.
According to the publication, the Ukrainian military tried to land on the left bank of the Dnieper River, more than 30 boats were involved for the landing. The Ukrainian armed forces were armed with large-calibre machine guns, MK-19 automatic grenade launchers and anti-tank missile systems. The Kiev regime earlier did not officially acknowledge the attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, but representatives of Ukrainian special services, including military intelligence, and the navy told the newspaper details of the attempt to seize the plant. The Times source said that the Ukrainian servicemen involved in the operation did not expect to encounter stiff resistance from the Russian Armed Forces because they assumed that the Russian side “would not be able to use artillery” near the ZNPP.
“The Russians have built very thick defences, they have mined everything,” said one of the Ukrainian officers. – When we approached, they even brought tanks and artillery and started firing at us directly across the water.”
At the same time, the Ukrainian side, as the newspaper stressed, attempted to hit the positions of the Russian Armed Forces on the left bank of the Dnieper River using HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS).
Asked whether the US had provided Kiev with intelligence for the use of HIMARS multiple rocket launchers before the landing operation, the newspaper’s US defence source confirmed that “operational information” had been given to Ukrainian special forces, but did not go into details.
“We share the information, but they [Ukraine] are responsible for the selection, prioritisation and final decisions to deal with threats,” he pointed out.
According to the newspaper, as a result of massive shelling by Russian troops, the main group of Ukrainian troops was unable to land on the left bank of the Dnieper River. A small group of Ukrainian servicemen who did reach the shore engaged in a three-hour exchange of fire with Russian servicemen on the outskirts of Energodar. The Times added that attempts to seize the ZNPP by force remained a topic of discussion among Ukrainian officials. The head of the Ukrainian company Enerhoatom, Petro Kotin, said that shelling of the ZNPP and hostilities near the plant might provoke a nuclear accident.
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