Ukrainian army failed to regain Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in October

Last October, the Ukrainian military attempted to regain the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) from the Russian Federation, but the attempt failed.

Source: The Times

Details: At the end of October, officials of the occupation administrations and the Russian Defence Ministry reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had attempted to drop an airborne force and retake the ZNPP, the newspaper writes. At the same time, Kyiv did not officially acknowledge the attempt to storm the nuclear power plant, but representatives of the Ukrainian Special Forces, Defence Intelligence and the Navy told The Times on condition of anonymity about the details of the operation.

At that time, Russian troops had been holding the power plant for more than six months, using its territory to fire on Ukrainian cities on the other side of the Dnipro river and a large steel plant in Nikopol.

According to The Times, on the night of 19 October, about 600 Ukrainian troops in 30 boats packed with weapons, including heavy machine guns, MK-19 grenade launchers and anti-tank weapons, attempted to land on the left bank of the Dnipro.

"The idea was that this would be an infantry-only battle. They wouldn’t be able to use artillery against us, as this is a nuclear plant," the newspaper quoted one of the military as saying.

However, the newspaper writes that the Ukrainian army soldiers did not expect such serious resistance.

"The Russians had built a very dense defence, they had mined everything. When we were approaching, they even pulled up tanks and artillery and started firing at us right on the water." the Ukrainian soldier said.

"As special forces speedboats crossed a stretch of river nearly three miles wide, precision Himars rockets provided by the US smashed into Russian positions on the riverbank (...) A handful of the Ukrainian special forces teams in smaller boats managed to make it to the shore as dawn broke, engaging the Russians in a three-hour firefight on the outskirts of the town of Enerhodar, which adjoins the plant. The main force was unable to land, however," the newspaper writes.

The Times notes that due to the risk of radiation leakage, such an attempted assault raises questions even among Ukrainian officials who are convinced of the need to regain the ZNPP.

The head of Ukraine's Energoatom (the company that runs all power plants in this country – ed.), Petro Kotin, suggested that it would be possible to regain the plant if the Ukrainian army could advance south, toward Crimea and Melitopol.

"This is the only option [to regain the power plant - ed.] – no direct firing on the plant, no direct advance on the territory of the plant with direct actions against the Russians. It is very dangerous to do such things near nuclear materials," he said.

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