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Russian forces operating in occupied southeastern Ukraine are actively carrying out sabotage against the electrical infrastructure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant while orchestrating false accusations against Kyiv to conceal the true dangers generated by the military occupation, according to a newly released investigative report by Greenpeace.
The environmental monitoring organization published findings on Thursday asserting that Moscow has engaged in a deliberate campaign to disrupt the nuclear complex’s external power infrastructure. According to the group's findings, the Kremlin has paired these actions with an extensive disinformation campaign designed to divert international scrutiny from the acute safety perils created by its unlawful invasion.
The comprehensive technical investigation was conducted through a collaborative effort between Greenpeace Ukraine and London-based intelligence firm McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS). Together, the organizations examined detailed satellite imagery of the occupied facility and its surrounding perimeter, uncovering no material proof to substantiate Russian assertions that Ukrainian military strikes had impacted the plant.
The core of the investigation relied on satellite surveillance assets supplied by Airbus’s defence and space division. Analysts methodically scrutinized satellite captures taken across a multi-month period spanning between October 2025 and June 2026 to evaluate the veracity of specific military incidents alleged by Russian authorities.
The primary focus of the satellite assessment was the 330-kilovolt Ferosplavna-1 transmission line, a crucial electrical conduit situated adjacent to the Zaporizhzhia station. Russian officials had previously alleged that Ukrainian armed forces damaged the high-voltage line through an artillery bombardment on February 10, followed by a subsequent drone attack on June 4.
However, after conducting forensic evaluations of the high-resolution imagery, MIS determined that the physical marks and damage along the power corridor were completely inconsistent with both artillery strikes and drone detonations. The evidence directly contradicted the official narrative advanced by Moscow regarding the nature of the electrical disruptions.
Military imagery specialists noted that standard artillery bombardments invariably leave visible signatures on the landscape, including distinct impact craters and wide patterns of dispersed shrapnel and fragmentation across the target zone. The satellite assessments covering the alleged February 10 engagement revealed an entire absence of these expected blast patterns.
Furthermore, the investigative team identified critical discrepancies in the timeline regarding the alleged aerial drone strike on June 4. Satellite imagery captured prior to that date demonstrated that the structural damage Russia attributed to the June 4 attack was already physically present on the line before the incident was purported to have occurred.
Shaun Burnie, a senior nuclear specialist with Greenpeace Ukraine, emphasized that the empirical data clears Ukrainian forces of responsibility. He stated that the satellite imagery provides definitive proof that Ukraine did not target or damage the power transmission systems supporting its own national nuclear generation facility.
Burnie described Moscow’s public statements as part of a sophisticated and extensive disinformation operation. He noted that the Russian government is deploying these fabricated claims as an intentional tactic to confuse global observers and deflect accountability away from the authentic nuclear safety hazards brought about solely by the ongoing war and occupation.
The nuclear expert further explained that the recurring power failures experienced by the Zaporizhzhia facility are fundamentally tied to broader Russian military operations. He indicated that the repeated loss of external power lines stems from persistent Russian strikes against Ukraine's national energy grid, combined with deliberate acts of sabotage executed directly at the plant site and its associated electrical switchyards.
The vulnerability of the plant's power grid is especially critical because the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 line currently functions as the singular remaining external power link available to the Zaporizhzhia facility. Multiple transmission corridors that once powered the massive six-reactor installation have been rendered inoperative during the conflict.
The findings from Greenpeace align with sustained warnings issued by the United Nations' international nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA has continuously stressed that establishing and maintaining an uninterrupted, stable external electricity feed is essential to preserving nuclear safety and preventing catastrophic equipment failure at the site.
Greenpeace reinforced this principle in its assessment, detailing that uninterrupted off-site electricity remains a vital engineering requirement for the plant. Without consistent electrical power, the facility cannot reliably run the primary safety systems required to circulate coolant through the reactor cores.
The environmental watchdog warned that active electricity supplies are similarly indispensable for running heavy-duty cooling pumps dedicated to the plant's spent fuel storage pools. A sustained failure of external power lines creates a catastrophic vulnerability, jeopardizing the thermal stability of both the primary reactors and the extensive stockpiles of spent nuclear fuel stored on site.
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