Russian ruler Vladimir Putin is blackmailing all of Europe by keeping the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant under his control, Forbes reports. This warning comes from British expert Simon Bennett of the University of Leicester, author of the Atomic Blackmail? The Weaponization of Nuclear Facilities During the Russia-Ukraine War book. 

The threat of a “dirty bomb” for all of Europe

According to Bennett, Russian occupiers could rig the Zaporizhzhia plant with explosives and, if Putin is defeated, remotely detonate its six reactors. This would create radioactive fallout clouds that would quickly spread across Europe.

“As demonstrated by the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown and radionuclide release … plumes of radioactive debris can travel many hundreds of miles,” he told the journalists. 

He recalls that radiation then reached as far as England, contaminating agricultural lands.

Putin endangers not only Ukraine but also Russia

Moreover, Kremlin control over the plant poses a threat to Russia itself.

“Should any of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants be hit, even the plants in the far west of the country, there is a real possibility that, if there were a persistent westerly wind, the plume would reach Russia’s heartlands,” Bennett warns.

Nuclear blackmail and new tactics of war with NATO

The expert also cautions that Russia’s military operations around nuclear plants may foreshadow tactics in a future war with NATO. He notes that the Kremlin might deploy “sleeper agents” to undermine Western infrastucture. These are spies with fake documents already embedded in the critical infrastructure of Western countries.

“I think it likely that Russia has in place sleepers across any state it considers hostile…which, of course, would include NATO member states,” Bennett concludes. 

Earlier, Euromaidan Press wrote that Russian ruler Vladimir Putin shows no intention of abandoning his objectives in Ukraine or ending the war. Even under the threat of new sanctions, he appears ready to go to extremes to achieve victory. 

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Russia on June 18 warned the world is "millimetres away from catastrophe" due to Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, just four months after one of its own drones struck the Chornobyl nuclear site in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Israel of escalating the risk of a nuclear incident in the Middle East, despite Russia's own record of repeatedly placing nuclear facilities at risk during its full-scale invasion, and threatening the use of nuclear weapons.

On Feb. 14, Russian forces struck the Chornobyl nuclear facility with a Shahed drone, hitting the protective sarcophagus that encases Reactor No. 4, site of the 1986 nuclear disaster.

Damage was limited, and no radiation leakage occurred, but the act was widely condemned as a deliberate provocation timed to coincide with the Munich Security Conference.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack on the Chornobyl plant "a terrorist threat to the whole world." Ukrainian officials and nuclear security experts said the strike was unlikely to cause significant radioactive contamination but served as a warning of Russia's willingness to weaponize fear of nuclear disaster.

Russia has also intensified strikes near other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, including infrastructure connected to the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which Moscow's forces have used as a military base since early in the war.

Analysts view the attacks as part of a broader campaign of intimidation aimed at pressuring Kyiv and its allies into a settlement.

Zakharova's comments follow growing international concern over the rising tensions between Israel and Iran. Russia has positioned itself as a potential mediator in the conflict, though European leaders have dismissed the Kremlin's neutrality due to its deepening military ties with Tehran and ongoing aggression in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot be trusted" to mediate peace in the Middle East while launching mass strikes on Ukrainian cities, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on June 17. Her remarks came after a Russian missile attack killed at least 28 civilians in Kyiv and injured over 130.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Israel has so far rejected Moscow's mediation offer. U.S. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that Putin had expressed willingness to help mediate.

Russia continues to receive military support from Iran, including drones and missiles used in attacks across Ukraine.

Tired of military aid delays, Ukraine has designed its own ballistic missile — and it’s already in mass-production

Ukraine announced on June 13 that its short-range Sapsan ballistic missile would go into mass production, a major development in Kyiv’s ongoing efforts to domestically produce the weapons it needs to fight Russia’s full-scale invasion. As Ukraine faces growing challenges in securing weapons from Western partners, and Russia continues launching

The Kyiv IndependentYuliia Taradiuk

Satellite images reveal that Russia has expanded and modernized at least five nuclear-related facilities near European borders in recent years, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported on June 16, citing new imagery obtained from Planet Labs.

One of the most notable developments is in Kaliningrad, where the suspected nuclear weapons storage site has undergone significant reconstruction.

Images taken in May 2025 show the addition of triple-layered fencing, new buildings, and advanced communications equipment. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski previously said that up to 100 tactical nuclear warheads might be stored at the site.

Kaliningrad, a militarized Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania, is a key concern for NATO because of its advanced missile systems and expanding nuclear infrastructure.

The Osipovichi base in Belarus, a former Soviet nuclear storage facility, is also being renovated. Satellite imagery shows new air defense installations and a modernized loading platform for rail-based logistics.

In Novaya Zemlya, a remote Arctic archipelago long linked to Soviet-era nuclear testing, several new buildings have appeared, reinforcing its role as a potential site for future test activities.

On the Kola Peninsula, near the borders with Finland and Norway, Russia has built about 50 storage bunkers for submarine-launched ballistic missiles and constructed a specialized pier for loading those missiles onto submarines, according to the imagery.

Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson responded to the findings, saying Stockholm is "closely monitoring" Russian nuclear capabilities. Sweden officially joined NATO in March 2024 after years of non-alignment, citing escalating Russian threats as a primary reason.

The Kremlin has repeatedly used nuclear threats to pressure Ukraine and Western countries since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

‘Russians lie about everything’ — Ukraine hits out at Kremlin claims after yet another drone strike on Kyiv

“This is a deliberate tactic of terror,” Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy