NEW ANALYSIS: We looked carefully at security footage and photos from last week's Russian assault on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant and found evidence that it was far riskier than first reported. Here's what we turned up:
npr.org/2022/03/11/108…
npr.org/2022/03/11/108…
Around midnight local time, Russian forces began a slow and methodical advance on the plant. The column of armored vehicles, led by two tanks, approached the plant from the southeast along the main service road.
Ukrainian forces opened fire and one tank was hit.
Ukrainian forces opened fire and one tank was hit.
Russian forces immediately returned fire, and at least one power line was struck. The @iaeaorg has now said that 2 of the plant’s 4 transmission lines were damaged in the attack (though we don’t know for sure if this was one of them).
The armor column then pushed its way into the parking lot in front of the plant. As previously reported, there was a great deal of fire towards the plant's training center (on the far right). But we also found several instances of fire directly INTO the nuclear complex.
It's not clear whether the Russian troops were deliberately trying to strike more sensitive sections of the plant or whether they were returning fire from defenders. But what is clear is that the shooting was not accidental.
"The fire is very concentrated," says @leone_hadavi.
"The fire is very concentrated," says @leone_hadavi.
Towards the end of the firefight, though, the Russian forces appeared less disciplined. On 5 separate occasions, soldiers could be observed firing RPGs into the main administrative building at the plant.
They did not appear to be under fire. It seemed pretty haphazard.
They did not appear to be under fire. It seemed pretty haphazard.
Finally, as things died down, Ukrainian firefighters arrived, probably from the nearby town of Enerhodar. But despite a raging fire in the training center (which, by the way, is in front of the plant’s main electrical switch yard), Russian forces turned them back.
That's slightly different from the official narrative that firefighters arrived and immediately extinguished the blaze. It seems more likely they came back a few hours later in the morning (Source: Energatom Telegram). 
There are a few other photos and videos of the aftermath. One, on an elevated walkway I’ve tweeted about before (see below). What I hadn’t realized is immediately NEXT to that walkway is a part of the plant that handles radioactive waste.
https://twitter.com/gbrumfiel/status/1499799810609668106?s=20&t=2Tk9EC14R_6RPZG49nQ0CQ
That building is not as hard as the reactor buildings, and if it had been struck, it could have caused a local radiological incident (in the middle of a fire fight). “The situation that we saw here could have gone wrong. Much more wrong than it did,” @TomBielefeld told me.
Photos of the admin building (where the Russian troops lobbed their RPGs) also show heavy damage. We've been able to verify both the location and that these images came post-assault. (Source: Energatom Telegram)
Put it all together and we were able to find evidence for damage at 7 different points around the reactor complex.
Some of it was reported by Ukrainian regulators, we didn't see directly. But we did see fire in the direction of where the damage was reported.
Some of it was reported by Ukrainian regulators, we didn't see directly. But we did see fire in the direction of where the damage was reported.
I should also add that this was a serious team effort. Thanks to @mererizzo @alykat and @tienlle who provided the visual journalistic chops we needed to pull this off. And to @leone_hadavi and @Cen4infoRes for checking what we saw and finding some important nuggets!
Plus the incredible @aminawrite and @nprnishant, who are some of the best editors you could ever ask for.
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