Russian troops may withdraw from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, according to Meduza sources close to the Russian leadership.
Moscow seems to be ready to do this in exchange for guarantees of uninterrupted transit of oil and gas through the territory of Ukraine.
On December 1, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Russian troops were withdrawing individual units from the annexed part of the Zaporozhye region, and were also preparing to evacuate employees of local occupation administrations.
A Meduza source close to the Kremlin, as well as an interlocutor close to the Russian government, allege that Russia “does not plan” to completely leave the Zaporozhye region. However, according to these sources, Moscow is ready to withdraw from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which Russian troops took control of at the beginning of a full-scale war. According to the Kremlin’s plan, the nuclear power plant could allegedly be transferred either to Kiev or the IAEA.
Previously, the Russian authorities publicly rejected the possibility of withdrawing troops from the Zaporozhye NPP, and on October 5, the war criminal Putin signed a decree on the transfer of the plant to the ownership of Russia and the creation of the federal unitary enterprise Zaporozhye NPP.
At the same time, the IAEA continues to advocate the creation of a security zone around the nuclear power plant and is negotiating this with both countries. On December 2, the head of the organization, Rafael Grossi, said that the solution that ensured the safety of the station “may be found before the end of the year.”
The Ukrainian authorities, in turn, noted that they intended to return the nuclear power plant under their own control. On November 28, the head of Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytsky said that due to the massive missile strikes that Russian troops had inflicted on energy facilities in Ukraine since early October, all large thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants were damaged. A few days earlier, Kudrytsky noted that if the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant returns to Ukrainian control and “works to the fullest”, there will be no problems with energy shortages “with a very high probability” in the country (in the last month, power outages in the country’s cities have become regular) .
Before the start of the war, ZNPP produced about 25% of all electricity in Ukraine.
According to Meduza sources close to the Kremlin and the Russian government, in exchange for the withdrawal of troops from the nuclear power plant, the Russian authorities allegedly expect to receive guarantees for the uninterrupted transit of oil and gas through Ukraine.
Meduza’s interlocutors claim that the Kremlin and the government “are ready for an agreement.”
Download and sell [нафту і газ] very important for the Russian budget,” Meduza’s source close to the Kremlin put it bluntly.
Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, in correspondence with Meduza, ruled out the possibility of such an “agreement” on the Zaporozhye NPP.
The southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline passes through Ukraine, through which Russian oil is delivered to Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland. In total, Druzhba accounts for about a third of all Russian oil supplies to Europe.
The Ukrainian section of Druzhba is owned by Ukrtransnafta, which charges Russia for oil transit and also has the technical ability to stop it. Since mid-November, supplies through the pipeline have been intermittent due to missile strikes.
At the same time, from December 5, Druzhba will become the main way to transport Russian oil to Europe, since the European embargo on the supply of oil from Russia will come into force (it only applies to transportation by water, that is, by tankers).
The war did not stop the transit of Russian gas delivered to Europe, in particular through Ukraine. In May, Naftogaz refused to pump Russian gas entering the Ukrainian gas transmission system (GTS) through the occupied Luhansk region, and suggested that Gazprom redirect the gas to another GTS string.
“Gazprom” refused – and decided to reduce supplies by a third (that’s how much accounted for transit through the Lugansk region).
In early September, Naftogaz invited proceedings in international arbitration, emphasizing that Gazprom did not pay for transit in full and out of time. And Gazprom said that it did not intend to pay for services not rendered, and threatened that Naftogaz could fall under Russian sanctions – and then Gazprom would waive all obligations.
Ukraine did not renounce its claims, and then Gazprom announced that it was ready to further reduce the pumping through Ukraine, because Kyiv allegedly takes away part of the Russian gas assigned to Moldova. The Ukrainian side denied these slanders.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.