Russians mine ZNPP cooler, says DIU chief Budanov

The head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, admits the threat of an explosion or accident at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. 

Budanov says that there is currently "a certain threat" to ZNPP. He notes that by destroying the dam of the Kakhovka HPP, the Russians destroyed the normal access of water to the station's coolers.

"But the worst thing is that during this time ZNPP has been additionally mined. It was the cooler that was mined. If they disable it by blowing it up, there is a high probability that there will be significant problems," the head of the DIU said. 

At the same time, Budanov says that he does not link the situation at ZNPP to US President Joe Biden's statement that the threat of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons is "real".

"We are talking about different things. The risk of using nuclear weapons and an artificial man-made disaster are slightly different things," Budanov said.