A British expert believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin may deliberately create a nuclear disaster in Europe if he one day suffers a defeat in his attempt to conquer Ukraine, writes Forbes.
Dr. Simon Bennett from the University of Leicester said that Putin may order the Russian army to mine the six reactors of the Zaporizhzhia NPP and remotely detonate the devices, creating clouds of nuclear waste that would quickly spread across Europe.
The publication recalled that at the beginning of the full-scale war, Russian troops captured two Ukrainian nuclear power plants - Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia.
The deployment of military equipment and explosive mines from Russia around the Zaporizhzhia NPP has threatened the safety and the plant's security, American experts say.
The occupation allows the Kremlin to use nuclear blackmail - not just against Ukraine, but against all of Europe - with the mere threat of turning the uranium-rich complex into a weapon of mass destruction.
Simon Bennett gives the example of 1986, when a massive explosion and meltdown of a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant a generation ago generated radioactive clouds that quickly crossed national borders.
The Chernobyl clouds reached England, where they contaminated farmland, he says. This means that Putin and his generals would be putting themselves in extreme danger - including for Russia - if they sabotage the Ukrainian power plant and cause a meltdown of even one of the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
The expert also expressed the opinion that Russia's operations at the Ukrainian nuclear power plants could be a harbinger of similar combat tactics in a possible future war with NATO. According to him, in such a scenario, Russia could use “sleeper agents“ - spies with false documents who are already integrated into the critical infrastructure of Western countries.