Russia Warns Ukraine Plans to Draw U.S. Into 'World War III' After Setbacks

TOM O'CONNOR 

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In comments shared with Newsweek, Russia's ambassador to the United States dismissed media reports suggesting that Moscow was planning a false-flag provocation at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, located in Ukraine, and alleged that Kyiv was using the narrative to draw NATO into a devastating conflict.

With Ukrainian officials expressing frustration over the pace of the country's counteroffensive against Russian forces, Ambassador Anatoly Antonov appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's international supporters to prevent an escalation.

"We call on the curators of the Kiev regime to exercise responsibility and exert influence on their 'wards' in order to avoid a large-scale catastrophe," Antonov told Newsweek. "Western ruling elites should understand that the failures on the battlefield make Kiev eager to create a pretext for the deployment of the NATO contingent to Ukraine, thereby to inflate a regional conflict into World War III."

"American and European citizens are hardly ready to march in orderly rows to the hell, into which the Zelensky government is dragging the entire planet," he added.

Antonov's comments came as Russian and Ukrainian officials accused one another of plotting to stage an attack at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP). Zelensky himself alleged in a public address Tuesday that objects resembling explosives were detected on the roof of the site, "perhaps to simulate an attack on the plant."

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has inspectors on-site, said Wednesday that no such explosives have been observed at the facility. IAEA Director Rafael Grossi also said the U.N. atomic watchdog's experts have requested additional access to parts of the nuclear plant.

Reached for comment, the Ukrainian Embassy to the United States referred Newsweek to Zelensky's interview with CNN broadcast Wednesday in which he asserted that he had possession of "documents" that proved Russian personnel had planted mines and were "technically ready" to conduct an attack on the plant. The Ukrainian leader said that the IAEA team did not have sufficient personnel to detect the suspected devices, which he alleged could be detonated remotely.

A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek that U.S. officials "are aware of reports that Ukrainian President Zelensky said Russia is considering an attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine."

"Russia has been playing a very dangerous game with its military seizure of Ukraine's nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe," spokesperson said. "Radiation knows no boundaries, and an incident could have impacts beyond the immediate vicinity of Zaporizhzhia."

The State Department spokesperson further warned that "Russia's militarization of ZNPP, including the emplacement of fighting positions on top of reactor buildings, jeopardizes not only nuclear safety and security, but also the lives of Ukrainian staff who operate the plant's facilities."

The remarks came with a warning.

"Russia's leadership should think long and hard about whether they want to risk causing a nuclear catastrophe," the spokesperson asserted. "Because if that happens – the international community will absolutely hold Russia to account."

"We continue to call on Russia to withdraw its military and civilian personnel from ZNPP, to return full control of the plant to the competent Ukrainian authorities, and to refrain from taking any actions that could result in a nuclear incident at the plant," the spokesperson added.

Asked about Zelensky's allegations on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not confirm the development, but she too expressed concern over the tensions surrounding the nuclear plant.

"Russia's continued military occupation of the nuclear plant is dangerous," she told reporters. "And when it comes to a nuclear plant, there should not be fighting there."

She also declined to comment specifically on a new resolution proposed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut that would treaty any nuclear provocation in Ukraine as a means to trigger NATO's Article 5 collective defense clause.

Antonov had previously condemned the proposed legislation in comments shared with Newsweek.

But as Russian officials deny they were behind any such plans, a growing chorus of warnings have emerged from the Kremlin to the Russian Foreign Ministry and senior lawmakers such as firebrand Liberal Democratic Party leader Leonid Slutsky accusing Kyiv of planning to attack the plant and blame Moscow.

Antonov saw the situation as part of an ongoing trend surrounding controversial events the two rivals have blamed on one another, such as the collapse of the Kakhovka dam that wrought devastating floods across parts of Russia-occupied Ukraine, the massacre at Bucha and a deadly strike last week at a building in Kramatorsk.

"News reporters continue to pretend not to notice the obvious: from the very beginning of the special military operation, all the accusations of the Zelensky regime against us turned out to be sabotage operations of Kiev itself," Antonov said. "Suffice it to say what happened to the Kakhovka dam, Bucha and Kramatorsk."

However, the difference now, he said, was that "this time stakes have grown substantially: Europe's nuclear security is at risk."

Local residents walk among debris following a Russian missile strike in the center of Kramatorsk on June 29, amid Russian's war in Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said that up to 12 people were killed and dozens more injured, including foreign citizens, in a strike at a restaurant, while Russian officials said the attack targeted a command post of the Ukranian 56th motorized rifle bridge, killing two generals, 50 officers and 20 foreign fighters.GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The Russian envoy dismissed any statements suggesting "that Russia is preparing a provocation against the nuclear power plant it controls" as "absurd." He noted the presence of Russian and IAEA personnel as well as safeguards shielding the plant's nuclear reactors.

"Russian citizens work at the facility. IAEA experts, who cannot but know who is shelling the ZNPP, are present there on a rotational basis, too," Antonov said. "The reactors are protected."

That being said, he pointed out that "besides power units there are more vulnerable infrastructure facilities: cooling systems, storage sites for fresh fuel and nuclear waste." He warned that "any projectile hit is extremely dangerous as radiation contamination of vast territories can follow."

Antonov also tied the dueling narratives surrounding the situation at Zaporizhzhia to the upcoming NATO summit to be held in Lithuania, where the topic of Ukraine and potential ways to increase support for Kyiv are expected to dominate discussions.

"Observers are actually playing along with the criminal intentions of the Ukrainian authorities ahead of the NATO summit," Antonov said.

These intentions, according to Antonov, were "to use a terrorist attack in order to slander Russia as a 'nuclear terrorist,' to divert attention from the failed counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in which the West has invested enormous resources" and "to use provocation so as to draw the Alliance directly into the conflict."

This article has been updated to include remarks from a U.S. State Department spokesperson and remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that were referred to Newsweek by the Ukranian Embassy to the United States.