Is there any strategic significance to this? I thought it was closed?
Chernobyl was built near where power is consumed.
It's only 81km up-river from Kyiv.
Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces
11–20 of 1001 posts
Re: Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces
#12Is there any strategic significance to this? I thought it was closed?
Two strategic points off the top of my head:
One, the railhead. Afaik it’s operational and modern, as they used it for moving material for constructing the sarcophagus. Goes straight to Kiev. Makes for easy onwards transport of materiel from Belarus.
Two, a gun to the head of Europe. They could threaten to destroy the containment, and/or to bomb the reactor building to aerosolise as much radioactive material as possible.
Re: Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces
#13Is there any strategic significance to this? I thought it was closed?
Theoretically the whole area could be turned into a dirty bomb with a few strategic strikes and it would be carried down a river destroying vast areas of Ukraine for millennia.
Re: Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces
#14Is there any strategic significance to this? I thought it was closed?
Theoretically the whole area could be turned into a dirty bomb with a few strategic strikes and it would be carried down a river destroying vast areas of Ukraine for millennia.
True - but Russia has nuclear weapons which are more precise and would send the strongest possible message. This is also important because destroying a country might land you a victory, but if it's destroyed, that is a shallow victory. A well-placed nuke is scary and controlled.
Re: Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces
#15Is there any strategic significance to this? I thought it was closed?
Theoretically the whole area could be turned into a dirty bomb with a few strategic strikes and it would be carried down a river destroying vast areas of Ukraine for millennia.
If Russia really wanted to create nuclear fallout problems, they have weapons that do so far more targeted and effectively.
Re: Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces
#16Is there any strategic significance to this? I thought it was closed?
It is actually deviously brilliant. No one wants to shell the area because it would release all the dust and radionuclides that were buried during the cleanup.
It is a perfect staging area because the downside to attacking it is so high. No allied forces in Europe want to deal with the fallout - literally.
This is so genius I'm genuinely in awe. This is right out of Sun Tzu: “The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable. ”
Re: Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces
#17Is there any strategic significance to this? I thought it was closed?
Two strategic points off the top of my head: One, the railhead. Afaik it’s operational and modern, as they used it for moving material for constructing the sarcophagus. Goes straight to Kiev. Makes for easy onwards transport of materiel from Belarus. Two, a gun to the head of Europe. They could threaten to destroy the containment, and/or to bomb the reactor building to aerosolise as much radioactive material as possi…
Why blow up a dirty bomb when they have 1000 real bombs?
Re: Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces
#18Is there any strategic significance to this? I thought it was closed?
Two strategic points off the top of my head: One, the railhead. Afaik it’s operational and modern, as they used it for moving material for constructing the sarcophagus. Goes straight to Kiev. Makes for easy onwards transport of materiel from Belarus. Two, a gun to the head of Europe. They could threaten to destroy the containment, and/or to bomb the reactor building to aerosolise as much radioactive material as possi…
I don't think the second is realistic, as that might be considered an attack on NATO countries, which is likely not a scale of war Russia is looking for.
Re: Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces
#19Is there any strategic significance to this? I thought it was closed?
Two strategic points off the top of my head: One, the railhead. Afaik it’s operational and modern, as they used it for moving material for constructing the sarcophagus. Goes straight to Kiev. Makes for easy onwards transport of materiel from Belarus. Two, a gun to the head of Europe. They could threaten to destroy the containment, and/or to bomb the reactor building to aerosolise as much radioactive material as possi…
> Two, a gun to the head of Europe. They could threaten to destroy the containment, and/or to bomb the reactor building to aerosolise as much radioactive material as possible.
If they wanted to go that extreme, they always had the option of just launching nukes. Capturing the reactor and blowing the sarcophagus just seems like a lot of needless extra steps.
Re: Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces
#20Is there any strategic significance to this? I thought it was closed?
Having news reports about Russian control over Chernobyl is enough to scare a good chunk of European population.