The leadership of the State Duma will discuss the situation around the Zaporozhye NPP on August 22

On Monday, August 22, an unscheduled meeting of faction leaders with State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin will be held to discuss the situation around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). The event was initiated to discuss measures “to demilitarize Ukraine” by Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov. This was preceded by statements about a possible escalation of the situation around ZNPP. On the morning of August 18, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that on Friday, August 19, the Ukrainian armed forces were planning to “deliver artillery strikes” on the territory of the Russian-controlled nuclear power plant. The blame for this, as Konashenkov said, Kyiv wants to lay on the Russian army.

After the statement by the representative of the military department, Zyuganov suggested that the entire Russian government “not sit back” (TASS quote). “The Duma Council is obliged to ensure the coordination of this work, because the State Duma reflects the interests of all factions, all politicians. And the people demand clarity and understanding in this regard and more decisive action,” said the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, according to whom “Kyiv is turning into a terrorist organization.” It is possible to convene the council of the State Duma “within two days,” Zyuganov noted, stressing that he was addressing Volodin with such a request. The chairman of the lower house of parliament promptly agreed to discuss these issues, at least with the leaders of the Duma factions.

There was no attack on the ZNPP during a visit to Ukraine by UN Secretary General António Guterres, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the pro-Russian military-civilian administration of the Zaporozhye region of Ukraine, stated on August 20. “According to operational information <...> everything said something was about to happen,” he said (quoted by TASS). According to him, the strike of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was prevented “precisely because” they raised a “loud noise”. But the deputies did not change their minds to discuss in Moscow the threats that could arise from attacks on the ZNPP. The meeting of the leaders of the factions will take place on the afternoon of August 22, two interlocutors in the State Duma said.

The meeting of faction leaders and the council of the State Duma has different functions, states political scientist Konstantin Kalachev. The council is preparing proposals for resolving organizational issues by the chamber, he notes, and if Okhotny Ryad is limited to holding a “meeting”, it means that the topics announced earlier could be adjusted. Initially, Zyuganov’s idea was to lay the responsibility for the possible consequences of the incidents at the ZNPP on the Ukrainian side and the West. “And the parliamentary opposition is convenient for making such a presentation. The Duma must demonstrate a broad consensus in the face of any risks and emerging threats. This is important both for the internal agenda and for the external one,” Kalachev notes.

The situation is plastic and the scripts are corrected as they go, he says. Political scientist Alexander Nemtsev notes that it is important for the country’s leadership to show political consensus on issues that may bother people. If necessary, immediately after the meeting of Volodin and the leaders of the factions, it would be possible to appoint and hold a council of the State Duma – even without the participation of the chairmen of the committees (they have only an advisory vote). But by the evening of August 21, even its permanent members with a decisive vote had not received invitations to the council, one of them told Vedomosti. The final decision on holding the council will be made based on the results of Volodin’s consultations with the leaders of the factions, said a source in the State Duma apparatus.

A Vedomosti source close to the presidential administration claims that the meeting with the faction leaders in this case is Volodin’s own initiative. The agenda of the alleged council is not fully defined, this can explain its delay, says Vedomosti’s interlocutor close to the State Duma, as well as a source in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. For example, the last two interlocutors note, it is unlikely that the appeal of the lower house on recognition of the independence of Zaporozhye (by analogy with the DPR and LPR) could now become the subject of real discussion. Vedomosti sources agree that such actions are hardly possible before a referendum is held in the region and the territory acquires subjectivity.

However, as noted by political analyst Pavel Sklyanchuk, the current Duma event will be held just a week before the official end of the vacation of deputies and the deputies will have something to do. This time, its relevance is “linked to the international agenda and the NWO: a relevant committee may be entrusted with the preparation [политического] appeals in connection with the situation around ZNPP,” the expert believes.