Last week, the Turkish outlet “Aydınlık” published a series of articles on Ukraine. One of these focused on an alleged incident at the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), which supposedly occurred in the spring of 2024 and was, according to the report, concealed from the world by Ukrainian authorities with the help of their security services.

Russian propaganda quickly seized on this publication, amplifying the sensitive topic of a possible nuclear accident and offering its own interpretation of the events. Across various articles and social media posts, Russian sources emphasized that the supposed incident at the South Ukraine NPP was caused by violations of operational protocols and nearly resulted in a disaster.

Russian narratives linked the incident to several factors:

• The start of preparatory work for constructing two new AP1000 reactor units at the South Ukraine NPP using American Westinghouse technology.
• The use of Westinghouse nuclear fuel at the plant. Russian sources claimed that the transition from Russian-originated TVEL fuel assemblies (part of Rosatom) to American fuel was extremely problematic, allegedly causing periodic shutdowns and malfunctions at the plant, with the 2024 incident being just one example.
• The expiration of the design life of the South Ukraine NPP’s reactor units, with Russians claiming to be unaware of the status of any life extension measures.

Ukraine responded promptly. The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, citing the national nuclear operator Energoatom, refuted the claims about any incident at the South Ukraine NPP. They confirmed that all Ukrainian nuclear power plants, including South Ukraine NPP, are operating normally, with no technical violations or abnormal radiation levels.

It’s important to note that spreading fakes about supposed incidents or accidents at Ukrainian nuclear power plants – and highlighting alleged Ukrainian inability to safely operate these facilities – has become a standard tactic of Russian propaganda in recent years. The goal is clear: to stoke fear and panic within Ukrainian society and to undermine trust in Ukrainian authorities and energy sector management.

For context, last year saw a spike in Russian disinformation campaigns about accidents at Ukrainian nuclear plants.

• In April 2024, fake reports circulated about a radiation leak at the Khmelnytskyi NPP;
• in July, about an accident at the South Ukraine NPP;
• and in August-September, about explosions and radiation leaks at the Rivne NPP.

At the same time, it’s clear that the recent fake news about an accident at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant was not randomly chosen by Russian propaganda.

Over the past week, amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s statements expressing disappointment with Russia and Vladimir Putin regarding stalled peace talks on ending the war in Ukraine – as well as his intention to resume arms supplies to Ukraine-Russian media have revived anti-American rhetoric.

There’s also a commercial angle to this wave of disinformation. International players like the American company Westinghouse are actively working to push Rosatom out of the nuclear fuel market for the balanced 19 VVER reactors currently operating in Europe. At present, five EU member states: Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Finland, remain heavily dependent on Russian nuclear fuel and related technologies. These countries operate Soviet (Russian) designed VVER reactors and still have to use Russian-supplied TVEL fuel.

However, on May 6, 2025, the European Commission published its Roadmap for phasing out Russian energy sources (see the analysis in this publication via the link here). This document obliges EU member states to develop national plans to diversify sources of nuclear fuel supply, with concrete actions and timelines for ending reliance on Russian imports. The recommended deadline for submitting initial plans is the end of 2025.

The appearance of a series of provocative articles about Ukraine in a Turkish local-level newspaper – and the subsequent bringing up of these kind of publications by Russian propaganda to spread fakes of a feasible incident at a nuclear facility that could have caused a radiation disaster – shows that global political processes are entering a new, more acute phase of hybrid warfare.

Ukraine, in this new reality, is not just a target of aggression but also an active participant in a complex system of hybrid conflict that goes far beyond conventional military warfare. This system includes intelligence operations, economic competition, violation of international nuclear and radiation safety standards, and many more. It witnesses that today’s wars are fought just as fiercely in the information, geopolitical, and economic spheres as they are on the battlefield, with every incident – real or fabricated – becoming part of a larger struggle for influence.

At the same time, those engaged in this hybrid confrontation are increasingly crossing so-called “red lines,” manipulating and exploiting extremely sensitive topics in their information campaigns, especially the safety of nuclear facilities. Such practices significantly raise the risk of escalation and threaten stability not only at the regional level but globally as well.