Did We Miss a Nuclear War? The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Rumor

July 7, 2023

Philip C. Johnson

If you woke up on July 6th and didn’t find yourself in the middle of a nuclear war, be thankful. Because the rumor was that on the night of July 5th, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine was going to be bombed, sending radiation and destruction on Ukraine, its neighbors and anywhere else the winds might blow. And more than likely, it would have dragged the U.S. and NATO into direct conflict with Russia. 

As we all know, conflict between Russia and Ukraine has continued since February of 2021. As we also know, the conflict is not just a war between Ukraine and Russia; it is a full-on proxy war between the United States and Russia with NATO thrown in for good measure. 

So what’s the deal with the Zaporizhzhia Power Plant? The ZPP is a nuclear power facility in Russian-held Ukrainian territory. In fact, Russia has been in control of this power plant since March 12, 2022. But suddenly there were rumors claiming that Russia was going to blow up the plant on July 5th.  Ukrainian president, Zelenskyy, even addressed the issue publicly. In his speech he claimed he had intelligence that Russia had placed bombs on the roof of the power plant and was going to blow it up.

Here’s what you need to know and keep in mind: 

1.) Propaganda. We are living in the most intense propaganda bubble that I can remember in my lifetime. The complete truth about this European conflict (and many other things) will eventually come out – but not before much more damage is done. As usual with governments and controlled media, by the time the truth comes out, we won’t care anymore. 

2.) Counter-offensive. Ukraine began its grand counter-offensive against Russia about 30 days ago. To say it’s not been going well would be an understatement. Even pro-Ukrainian media admit that the counter-offensive is “going slowly.” Translation: “It’s a disaster.” So far, Ukraine has only retaken some small areas that Russia had either abandoned or were only defended by Russian mobile units. Ukrainian forces have not made it through the “security zone” and are nowhere near Russia’s defensive line. And the small areas that have been recaptured have come at the cost of vital military equipment and most importantly, soldiers. Thousands of soldiers. Ukraine is running out of weapons and people. 

3) Why would Russia want to blow up a nuclear power plant? No reason. No reason that anyone can reasonably explain.  Russia controls the power plant and has controlled it since March, 2022. Russia is not desperate. Her military industrial production and the strength of her economy have been vastly underestimated and she is in a position to continue grinding away at this conflict in order to reach her goals. What Russia does NOT want is the direct involvement of NATO. And Russia knows that a nuclear incident might trigger an escalation that the Kremlin cannot prevail against. Anyway, Russia claims she is not the one planning to blow up the power plant. Ukraine is. 

4.) Why would Ukraine want to blow up a nuclear power plant? A very clear reason – to force NATO to become completely involved with this conflict.  Ukraine is desperate because she is running out of military equipment and soldiers. President Zelenskyy has been a traveling panhandler, going from country to country demanding that everyone send him money and weapons. But it’s never enough and he’s very afraid that the West is getting to the point of “war-fatigue.”  Ukraine cannot prevail against Russia alone. Ukraine knows there is nothing like a nuclear incident – or even the threat of a nuclear incident – to get eyes back on Ukraine and to force NATO to increase their involvement. 

U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal introduced a resolution to Congress on June 22nd to respond to the possibility that Russia might use nuclear weapons. According to Lindsey Graham’s own press release, the “resolution holds that any use of a tactical nuclear weapon by Russia, Belarus or their proxies, or the destruction of a nuclear facility that disperses radioactive contaminants into NATO territory would be viewed as an attack on NATO itself, requiring an Article V response.” 

5.) Why it matters. It’s important to understand what’s going on. And what’s happening right now is very simple: Blow up a power plant (or threatened to), blame it on Russia, and then war-hungry politicians and those who make huge profit off war and suffering will have the excuse they so desperately want to enter into full-scale war with Russia. If the U.S./NATO enters into this conflict with troops, fighter jets and more sophisticated military equipment, the conflict will escalate to an existential threat for Russia. And then you will truly have the threat of nuclear warfare. 

6.) My advice. Of course no one is asking me for my opinion, but like most people, I have thoughts. And my thought for our politicians is this: We need leaders who are interested in pursuing peace. And peace was very near for Russia and Ukraine last year, until Western leaders stopped that from happening (I’m talking to you, former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.) In the interval of time since the near-resolution of this conflict, many tens of thousands of lives have been lost. Normal people don’t want Russias or Ukrainians to lose their lives. Sane people love peace. Mentally balanced people value life over death.

And my advice for the rest of us is to pursue independent media so that you have at least a hint of what’s going on in our world. I never write from a position of fear, but from a place of fascination for events and compassion for people. I am never in doubt of God’s sovereign control over this world or His gift of grace. My goal is to encourage people to connect the dots in a confusing world and pursue truth. Truth, as we have seen over and over again is becoming more rare. You know what I’m talking about. COVID didn’t come from a lab in China… Masks work… Russia blew up their own Nord Stream Pipeline… The Taliban will never takeover Afghanistan… Iraq had weapons of mass destruction… the U.S. didn’t purposely provoke this current war…

Pay attention, my friends. 

*If you like the artwork in this article, you can thank AI for generating images from my text. Obviously the robots will take over; I might as well take advantage of them while I can. 😀