Russia seeking ‘leverage’ by seizing nuclear power plant: US defense official

A senior U.S. defense official said Friday that Russia is likely seeking “leverage” over the Ukrainian civilian population by seizing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. 

The official said that the U.S. cannot confirm nor dispute Russian claims that they now control the plant. The official also said there is no indication currently of increased radiation levels after a Russian attack on the plant launched Thursday night U.S. time.

The plant caught on fire after part of the facility was hit by a Russian projectile, International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said. The fire has since been extinguished, he said.  

UKRAINE NUCLEAR PLANT UPDATE: RUSSIAN ATTACK RELEASED NO RADIATION, IAEA CHIEF SAYS: LIVE UPDATES

“If your goal is to control population centers, if your goal is to supplant the government of Ukraine and replace it with one that that’s more suitable to you, if your goal is to control Ukraine, one can surmise that you would want to control the infrastructure and to make sure that you can meter it to your needs,” the defense official said. 

“You can use your leverage in that regard to punish a population, to make it harder for that population to resist you,” the official also said. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces attacked the largest nuclear power plant in Europe Thursday U.S. time as Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine continues. 
(Yuri Kochetkov/Pool)

The attack on the power plant, which is the largest in Europe, spurred concerns of a potential nuclear disaster just a few days after fighting broke out near Chernobyl as Russian troops tried to advance from Ukraine’s northern border to its…