In late June, 16 months into the full-scale Russian invasion, President Volodymyr Zelensky alerted his nation of an unprecedented threat. Russia, the president said, had rigged the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant with explosives, and was ready to set off the charges and cause radiation to leak into surrounding areas. “Russia uses the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as an element in its aggression,” Zelensky said. “It occupies the plant. It uses it to cover the shelling of neighborin