Islamic Militants Claim They’re the Culprits in Russian Hydroelectric Plant Explosion
Islamic Militants Say They’re Responsible For Attack on Russia’s Largest Hydroelectric Plant: Claim “Campaign of Economic War”
Damage to Sayano-Shushinskaya power station in southern Siberia, Russia’s largest hydroelectric plant, after explosion claims 75 workers
“We see what has happened, we know what has happened. There’s no need to pretend that there’s something unclear about this to someone.”
Putin’s statement on hydroelectric plant “accident”
On August 17, the Sayano-Shushinskaya power station in southern Siberia, Russia’s largest hydroelectric plant, suffered damage due to an “explosion”. According to the AP, the explosion was due to an accident, a transformer that “exploded” which caused the engine room to flood:
From the AP:
“MOSCOW — An accident during repair work at Russia’s largest hydroelectric plant killed at least eight workers Monday, while 54 others were missing, investigators said.
The explosion of a transformer caused the engine room to flood at the Sayano-Shushinskaya power station in southern Siberia, the Investigative Committee of the federal prosecutors office said.
The plant’s dam was not damaged, and the accident posed no threat to towns further south along the Yenisei River, Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
The accident caused an oil spill, however, and the slick was floating downriver, the ministry said.
Two of the plant’s 10 turbines in the engine room were destroyed, and a third was seriously damaged, said Vasily Zubakin, acting chief executive of the plant’s owner, RusHydrop.
Shoigu said the repairs would be difficult. “We’re probably talking about years rather than months to restore three of the 10 turbines,” he said on state-run television.”
Putin Visits site of Hydroelectric Plant Explosion
One week later, the Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet Daily News, reported the Islamic militant group, Riyadus Salikhiin, with roots in Chechnya, claimed they were responsible for attacking the plant. The paper also stated that death toll had reached 75 and that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had visited the site:
“An Islamist group claimed it caused the disaster at Russia’s largest hydroelectric plant, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the site and acknowledged 75 people were killed in the tragedy.
Russian investigators denied the claim by Riyadus Salikhiin, a militant group with roots in Chechnya, that it had hit the power station on Monday as part of a new campaign of “economic war” in Russia.”
The Hurriyet also reported that the Islamic militant group had claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a police headquarters in Russia’s Ingushetia region that left 2 dozen dead and was carried out the same day as the “dam disaster”.
The Russians deny the plant explosion was caused by the militants while the militants claimed they’d planted an anti-tank grenade fitted with a timer in the turbine hall then later detonated it. Three of the plant’s turbines were destroyed while Russian officials estimated it may take years to restore the three turbines.
By LBG
Image – Daily Mail – Damage at Russian hydroelectric plant
[...] Russia is once again experiencing literal explosions of violence and mayhem and subversion. Islamic Militants Claim They’re the Culprits in Russian Hydroelectric Plant Explosion | DBKP -… Russia: Slavic Converts To Radical Islam Pose New Threat – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty 2010 [...]