US Ambassador Says Putin Must ‘Stop This Madness’ After Ukraine Nuclear Plant Seized; Russia Denies Shelling

Thursday night was quite the exercise in information warfare, after Russian forces seized control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plan in Ukraine.

As a skirmish broke out, Ukraine claimed Russia was “firing from all sides,” and warned that if it blows up, “it will be 10 times larger than Chernobyl,” while also claiming that the facility had been ‘shelled’ and radiation levels were rising.

This was quickly debunked by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which reported that there had been no change in radiation levels at the site.

#Ukraine regulator tells IAEA there has been no change reported in #radiation levels at the #Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant site.

— IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) March 4, 2022

In fact, Russia attacked an administrative complex, not the reactors.

First: if seismic sensors at the plant were triggered (for example if shells or bombs are used) the reactors which are of very different design would shut down automatically.

Second: the main risk at the plant is that cooling does not get to the reactor cores over time.

— Mark Nelson (@energybants) March 4, 2022

Some have suggested Ukraine was trying to bait the West into greater assistance, while the Associated Press breathlessly repeated the Ukrainian reports.

They lied about Zaporizhzhya because they want to pull the US into the war

The lies will become bigger

It’s going to get worse

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 4, 2022

7:34; Ukraine FM: “Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP,” as if there is a sustained attack on a nuclear reactor!

7:47; AP in name of Ukraine: “elevated levels of uranium are being detected.”

8:20: A fire at an admin building in the complex.

Oh. pic.twitter.com/8WET6fV938

— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) March 4, 2022

Russia maintains they used kid-gloves, that the plant is operating normally, and that there’s no threat of radioactive materials escaping. This account appears to be corroborated by a ‘top US nuclear official,’ who told Reuters that the US hasn’t seen evidence that Russia attacked the reactors themselves.

According to the Russian UN envoy, reports regarding the attack are ‘lies,’ and that there’s no threat of radioactive materials being released.

Now, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says that Russian President Vladimir Putin must ‘stop this madness.’

“By the grace of God, the world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe last night,” she said, adding “Cooler heads must prevail.  Russian forces are now 20 miles, and closing, from Ukraine’s second largest nuclear facility. So this imminent danger continues(..)The international community must be unanimous.”

.@USAmbUN Linda Thomas-Greenfield: “Mr. Putin must stop this madness, and he must stop it now. Cooler heads must prevail. Russian forces are now 20 miles and closing from Ukraine’s second-largest nuclear facility. So, this imminent danger continues.” pic.twitter.com/iB9ycxGgdk

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 4, 2022

‘Cooler heads’ are denying there was anything close to a ‘nuclear catastrophe’ last night, but we digress.