The Russian Armed Forces sent a Kamov Ka-52 “Alligator” combat helicopter to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on the day when a group from the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to arrive at the station.

In the morning, several videos appeared on social networks of a helicopter flying over the city of Energodar, which was later identified as a Ka-52 “Alligator” attack helicopter, which entered service with the Russian Air Force in 2011.

Alligator attack helicopters are considered one of the most modern in Russia, before the war in Ukraine on February 24 there were only 70 such aircraft.

But the Ukrainian armed forces managed to shoot down several Ka-52 helicopters, including with non-traditional weapons, in particular the Stugna-P ATGM and Mantlet light missiles obtained from Great Britain.

Paradoxically, although the Russians accused the Ukrainians of landing paratroopers in Energodar, a video shared on social media showed not only a Russian attack helicopter flying over the city, but also Russian armored personnel carriers on its streets.

In fact, satellite images taken a few days ago show that Russian troops have pulled up armored vehicles in the immediate vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia plant.

The city of Energodar was built in the 1970s to service the nearby Zaporizhzhia NPP, just as the more famous city of Pripyat was created for workers at the Chernobyl NPP.

Visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency to Zaporizhzhia

A team of IAEA experts is expected to arrive at a nuclear plant in the region of the same name in Ukraine on Thursday amid fears that bombing there could trigger a nuclear disaster similar to Chernobyl or Fukushima.

NATO also called for an “urgent inspection” of this plant, and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on August 17 that “the occupation of the plant by the Russians increases the risks of a nuclear incident.”

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov rejected the withdrawal of Russian troops from the plant, calling instead for the West to put pressure on Ukraine to “stop the bombing.” Moscow claims that Ukrainians are behind the shelling in the area of ​​the plant.

Last Thursday, the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant was disconnected from the power grid for several hours due to a fire. Later, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that the disaster at the border was avoided thanks to the intervention of diesel generators.

On the night of March 3-4, during the battle for Energodar, Russian troops captured the Zaporizhzhia NPP. A fire immediately broke out at the plant, which alerted the international community.

Fortunately, it did not get out of control and the radiation level around the plant remained within normal limits.

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