ZNPP has explosives and 5,000 Russian troops with heavy weapons — Zelenskyy
On July 1, Spain took over the EU presidency. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an interview to the Spanish publication El Mundo.
Here are the main points from the interview:
Ukrainian intelligence is aware of Russian plans to cause a radioactive leak at Zaporizhzhia NPP.
"There are explosives and 5,000 Russian soldiers with heavy weapons at ZNPP. A terrorist attack at the plant is part of their strategy to freeze the conflict. If we hand over control of ZNPP to the IAEA, the Russians will remotely blow up the plant. They need to buy time to make more weapons and then try to erase us from the face of the earth again," the President said.
Zelenskyy noted that Russians kidnap Ukrainian workers at ZNPP and take their children to Russia.
The Ukrainian counter-offensive is slowed down due to the desire to save as many lives as possible.
"Every kilometre costs a life. People are not a resource for Russia, but for us, they are the greatest treasure. If the fields are mined, we cannot send our soldiers to die. We had heavy rains that slowed down the progress. Partners delivered weapons slower than expected. The main engine is our military, they are advancing every day, and the most important thing is to save their lives," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Wagner PMC losses in Ukraine amount to 21,000 killed and 80,000 wounded.
The President said that the most motivated part of the Russian forces was destroyed during the hostilities. The rest of the Russian army has no motivation and is weaker than the Ukrainian army.
"We believe that today [the Wagner mercenaries] are no longer able to do anything significant against Ukraine, but we will keep an eye on them on the northern border," Zelenskyy said.
