New video has emerged online showing Russian military vehicles inside a turbine hall connected to a nuclear reactor at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where intensified shelling has fueled fears of a nuclear disaster. CNN has geolocated and confirmed the authenticity of the video, which began circulating on social media Thursday. It’s unclear when the video was taken. The footage shows one of the six turbine rooms located on the western side of the nuclear plant, located in the southeastern city of Enerhodar. Each turbine hall is connected and built into a large building that houses a nuclear reactor. The vehicles, which appear to be standard Russian military trucks, are sitting in the far western edge of the building on the ground floor, just over 400 feet (130 meters) from the reactor. At least five vehicles — with one clearly marked with the pro-war symbol “Z” — are seen in the video, with at least two tent-like structures nearby. There are a number of assorted pallets near the vehicles. It’s unclear from the video whether the pallets and tent-like structures are part of the Russian military or are related to power plant operations. Moscow has previously said the only military equipment at the plant is related to guard duties. On Thursday, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that satellite imagery, “shows that weapons, especially heavy ones, are not placed on the territory of this station.” CNN reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment on what is inside and around the military vehicles in the turbine room, but did not immediately receive a response. Read the full story here.
