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Ukrainian troops captured during raid on nuclear plant – official

Three Ukrainian soldiers, who participated in a botched attempt to capture the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday morning, have been taken alive, Vladimir Rogov, a council member in the Moscow-allied administration of Ukraine’s Zaporozhye Region, has claimed.

  • Of the three, two have been injured and are in serious condition, the official said in an interview with Russian television. Doctors are fighting to save them, he added. An estimated 12 Ukrainian troops are still fighting against Russian forces, he claimed.

The Russian Defense Ministry previously claimed that early in the morning, Kiev launched an operation apparently aimed at taking the nuclear site ahead of an inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Some of the Ukrainian troops failed to reach the southern bank of the Dnepr when their vessels were hit and sank, the ministry stated.

Up to 60 commandos used speedboats to make a landing, before Russian forces engaged them, the report said.

The power plant and the surrounding city of Energodar have been under Russian control since March. Throughout August, it came under regular fire, which Kiev and Moscow blamed on each other. Ukrainian officials also accused Russia of stationing heavy weapons at the nuclear facility.

The IAEA’s fact-finding mission is expected to arrive in Energodar later in the day, though there were reports that their progress was interrupted by military activity.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attempting to derail the inspection.

Source: RT

Notes:

IAEA mission has arrived at Zaporizhzhya NPP.  Reuters reports that the IAEA experts may stay at the Zaporizhzhya NPP for less time than initially planned.

Earlier, on the morning of 1 September, the Ukrainian side undertook a series of military actions to disrupt the visit of an IAEA delegation to the nuclear power plant.

At 6:20 a.m. local time, two sabotage groups of the Ukrainian armed forces with a total number of up to 60 people landed on the coast of the Kakhovka reservoir, three kilometres northeast of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. The landing was carried out using seven fast-moving motorboats. The saboteurs then split into groups of five to six men each and attempted to move towards the nuclear power plant through the cottage settlement.

The sabotage groups were detected and blocked in the landing area by Rosgvardiya units guarding the territory of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. A unit of the Russian Armed Forces and helicopters of the army aviation were deployed to reinforce the Rosgvardiya troops in order to suppress an attempt to enter the nuclear power plant and destroy the Ukrainian saboteurs.

As of 2 p.m. local time, both sabotage groups had been neutralised. At least 47 Ukrainian saboteurs killed.

Officials of the civil-military administration of Zaporizhzhya Region said that three Ukrainian saboteurs had been captured, two of them in a serious condition. Rogov, a member of the administration, said that the Ukrainian saboteurs who were planning to seize the Zaporizhzhya NPP had received special training in the UK. 

At around 7 a.m. local time, units of the Russian Armed Forces foiled another landing attempt to seize a nuclear power plant.

A few kilometres from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant near the settlement of Vodyanoye, there was an attempt to land a combat unit of the Ukrainian armed forces in two self-propelled barges that had left Nikopol.

Both barges were sunk. The number of surviving AFU servicemen is unknown.

Starting from 8 a.m. local time, the Kiev regime intensified shelling of the territory of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. The Ukrainian Armed Forces also launched artillery strikes at the expected meeting place of the IAEA mission with Russian specialists near the village of Vasylivka, as well as on their route to the city of Energodar.

Four shells exploded at a distance of 400 metres from the first power unit of the Zaporizhzhya NPP.

Despite all attempts by Kiev to thwart the visit, the IAEA mission leadership has shown determination to visit the nuclear power plant.

A large group of journalists accompanies the IAEA experts.

Security at the nuclear power plant is ensured by the Russian military police

Source: SOUTHFRONT