Six Russian National Guard commanders were convicted for shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
Six commanders of Rosgvardia units were found guilty of shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in March 2022. During the seizure of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Russian troops, using tanks and heavy armored vehicles, fired on the plant’s grounds for several hours, including near nuclear facilities and the spent fuel storage facility.
Despite warnings about the risk of a man-made disaster, the shelling did not stop. A fire broke out on the plant’s grounds, and critical networks and communications were damaged. Russian troops prevented rescue workers from extinguishing the fire, and ZNPP employees remained trapped at their workplaces.
Experts confirmed that the occupiers’ actions could have led to the destruction of the reactors’ protective barriers and a large-scale release of radioactive substances. The consequences of such a scenario could have affected not only Ukraine but also other European countries.
The court established that the assault was led by two major generals and four commanders of Russian National Guard battalion tactical groups. They coordinated the units’ actions and ensured the use of weapons during the seizure of the plant.
Following a public indictment by prosecutors from the Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the court found all six guilty of violating the laws and customs of war. Each was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The verdict was handed down in a special judicial proceeding.
The shelling of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was one of the most dangerous incidents of this war. It was a deliberate attack on a facility where an accident could have caused a large-scale radiation disaster.
Even years later, accountability for such crimes is inevitable. Everyone who gave orders, directed the shelling, or knowingly posed a threat to nuclear safety must face justice. This is a principled stance from which we will not back down.
Source: Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko
It was previously reported that a 10-year-old child was killed during a drone strike on an ATB supermarket in Chernihiv on July 26.
On the afternoon of July 26, Russian forces struck the ATB supermarket in Chernihiv with a “Geran-4” jet-powered drone in a targeted and fully deliberate manner—it was equipped with a video camera.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has determined that behind the cynical attack on the ATB supermarket in Chernihiv, which took place on July 26, was carried out by a unit of Russian Combat Group No. 3 of the “Grom ‘Kaskad’” Separate Unmanned Aviation Brigade.
