The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (GUR) reported that in the coming hours, the Russian occupiers are preparing a large-scale provocation to simulate an accident at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZAEP), reports Ukrainian Pravda.

According to the Intelligence Service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, this will be done directly on the territory of the ZNPP. After that, the invaders will announce the leakage of radioactivity, and Ukraine will be blamed for the incident.

To hide their actions, the Russians disrupted the rotation of the permanent monitoring mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency, scheduled for May 26, the GUR notes.

The purpose of this action is to call on the international community to conduct a thorough investigation, during which all hostilities will cease. In this way, the occupiers hope to get the desired pause, which will be used to regroup the troops and stop the counterattack of the Ukrainian troops, the intelligence officers summarize.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, plans to present a proposal to the UN on Tuesday to protect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was occupied by the Russian military, in the hope of reaching an agreement before a possible counterattack by Kyiv.

With the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, there is a risk of increased hostilities near the NPP and its six reactors.

Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the explosions, which have repeatedly knocked out power lines vital to cooling reactors and preventing a nuclear disaster.

Diplomats said that Grossi will outline the so-called “principles” of protecting the plant, which Russia and Ukraine must support at that time. Some of these have been known for a long time, such as avoiding towing to or from the factory.

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Presidential Administration in Kyiv, said yesterday that the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive has already begun.