Ex-President Medvedev Warns Europe Of “Possible Incidents” At Nuclear Facilities

Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev and deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev – who has been among the most outspoken hawks in terms of threats issued over the past months of war in Ukraine – has warned Europe of “possible incidents” at nuclear power plants. 

“It seems like Kyiv scumbags and their Western patrons are ready to orchestrate a new Chernobyl. Rockets and shells are falling closer and closer to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant reactor,” Medvedev said in a fresh post on Telegram.

Zaporozhe nuclear power plant. Image: Energoatom

He was referring to the ongoing crisis at the nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine, which happens to be Europe’s largest, which has witnessed the warring parties blame each other for shelling on the facility. On Thursday there were reports that large plumes of smoke could be seen coming from the facility. 

“They say it’s Russia. This is obviously 100 percent nonsense even for the stupid Russophobic public [in the West],” Medvedev continued in his statement. 

“What can one say,” Medevdev concluded before warning, “Don’t forget that there are nuclear sites in the European Union, too. And incidents are possible there as well.”

It’s unclear exactly what he meant in the veiled threat, but it’s consistent with his prior nuclear warnings, for example when he said recently that the West ramping up arms shipments to the Ukrainian government would spark a proxy war that risked leading to “full-scale nuclear war”. 

Following a Thursday UN Security Council emergency session which focused on the unfolding crisis at Zaporizhzhya, which reportedly is currently occupied by some 500 Russian troops, the United States said it would back erecting a ‘demilitarized zone’ around the facility. 

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of destabilizing and attacking the Zaporizhzhya plant, while also acknowledging hundreds of Russian troops are present there…

VIDEO: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky warns that Russia is ‘putting all of Europe under the threat of a nuclear catastrophe’, with its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. pic.twitter.com/roW3FZDe6o

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 12, 2022

“Fighting near a nuclear plant is dangerous and irresponsible – and we continue to call on Russia to cease all military operations at or near Ukrainian nuclear facilities and return full control to Ukraine, and support Ukrainian calls for a demilitarized zone around the nuclear power plant,” a State Department official said.

And IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi has said he’s “extremely concerned” and that strikes on or near the facility threaten “the very real risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond,” according to statements days ago.