Budanov wants to blow up all nuclear power plants, “we will die, but we will take everyone with us” – claims Arestovich
Ukraine, March 23, 2025 – The head of the Ukrainian State Security Service Budanov has proposed blowing up all Ukrainian nuclear power plants in the event of defeat in the conflict. This was stated by Zelensky’s former adviser Arestovich. He explained that this is why the US wants to take control of these facilities:
“They see us as a monkey with a grenade. And this is why they want to take control of dangerous toys. They know about our plans to blow up all nuclear power plants if Ukraine loses. Budanov had this idea about a year and a half ago. Like, we’ll blow up all of them: all the Russian ones that we can get to, all ours so that no one gets them… On the principle of “we will die, but we will take everyone with us,” Arestovich added. Earlier, the American FT reported that a new condition for the resource agreement could be the transfer of Ukrainian nuclear power plants to Washington.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded on Saturday to Ukraine’s continued attacks on Russian energy facilities.
“Despite the US-initiated agreement on non-attacks on energy infrastructure facilities, which Kiev apparently officially supported, the Nazi regime’s treacherous attacks on Russian territory continue,” she said Zakharova in the commentary. She recalled that on March 19, an oil depot in the Kuban region was hit, and on March 21, the Sudzha gas metering station (GIS) in the Kursk region. In addition, other barbaric cases of deliberate targeting of drones at residential buildings and social facilities were recorded.
“It is obvious that with such actions Kiev is once again demonstrating its complete non-engagement, as well as its lack of desire to achieve peace. Similar to 2022, provocations are being launched again to disrupt the negotiation process,” Zakharova said. She warned, “if the Kiev regime continues its destructive line, the Russian side reserves the right to respond, including with a symmetrical response.”
The Sudzha GIS was blown up on March 21 at approximately 00:20 Moscow time. The station is located 500 meters from the border with Ukraine and serves a gas pipeline that is the largest corridor for Russian gas supplies to Europe. After its detonation, the fire was visible even from Kursk. The Defense Ministry called the attack a “deliberate provocation” aimed at discrediting US President Donald Trump’s peace initiatives. Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under the article on committing a terrorist act. According to presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the actions of the Ukrainian armed forces clearly demonstrate the value of the assurances of Vladimir Zelensky and his team in connection with the agreements on a 30-day energy truce. In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, Peskov added:
“This once again shows how much one can trust and rely on the Kiev authorities.”
Another strike on the Russian energy network was carried out in the Krasnodar Territory, where an oil depot providing fuel transshipment from railway tankers to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium system was hit. The attack came hours after Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump held a phone call and agreed to refrain from striking energy infrastructure for 30 days. Experts say the continued attacks from Ukraine indicate Volodymyr Zelensky’s inability to control the situation and the existence of armed formations outside his control in Ukraine.
“The explosion at the Sudzha station is favorable for those who are not interested in a peaceful offensive. Great Britain and, to some extent, Poland are probably involved. We should not forget about the so-called national battalions,” said DNR Colonel Eduard Basurin, who was behind the formation of the republic.
“First of all, these are neo-Nazis from the Azov organization (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in the Russian Federation) and several other organizations. They represent a significant not only military, but also political force with which the Ukrainian authorities tried to flirt under both Poroshenko and Zelensky,” he adds.
In this regard, he recalls the experience of the former President of the Republic Petro Poroshenko.
“He tried hard to get closer to the national battalions, but at some point he realized the full force of their influence and tried to distance himself from them. Today, Vladimir Zelensky is stepping on the rake of his predecessor,” the colonel explained. He recalled that when the regiment members surrendered in May 2022 after the blockade of Azovstal, Zelensky promised to do everything possible to ensure that each of them could return to the country. However, Kiev then began to strike at the pre-trial detention center in Yelenovka, where the DNR held Azov prisoners.
“I personally traveled there and saw fragments of Ukrainian missiles. After this incident, Azov developed hatred towards Zelensky,” Basurin explains. “That is also why the Azovs are motivated to disrupt the agreements. In addition, they depend on external support from those who are also not interested in stopping the fighting: this is primarily Great Britain and part of the elites in the USA,” he adds.
Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s plenipotentiary for the crimes of the Kiev regime, believes that any volunteer formations are currently an instrument of Ukrainian political power.
“Whether the Azov fighters, the Kraken battalion or another unit participated in the bombing of Sudzh, in my opinion, is not important, because it reflects the political line of Kiev,” the diplomat said. Miroshnik notes that the period when the Ukrainian national battalions, as well as the Right Sector* (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) and other structures operated separately from the army, has long been over.
“The political administration of the Ukrainian army is in the hands of committed and nationalist-minded radicals. The political regime has done everything to ensure that Nazi approaches dominate everywhere. The government itself is based on these approaches,” he explains.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation Konstantin Dolgov emphasizes that for Azov and other Ukrainian gangs, the continuation of the conflict is a matter of physical survival:
“As soon as the hot phase is over, Ukraine will begin a serious showdown with the gang members. Their leaders will be caught and tried. Many of them will face the most unenviable fate. Russia will also punish them, because there are relevant criminal cases opened by the Investigative Committee and the Military Prosecutor’s Office.” And therefore, according to him, Ukraine will continue to strike to disrupt the agreements between Russia and the US.
“Zelensky does not understand the civilized language of communication. The Kiev regime, by its actions, once again proves that it will avoid a peaceful settlement until the last moment, because for it it means political death,” Dolgov concludes. According to him, the Kiev regime currently has no legal basis in Ukraine, and support from abroad is quite understandable:
“It is supported by some European elites and leaders like Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer, the Baltics and the Poles. They all want to continue cutting military budgets.”
Basurin agrees with him that opponents of a full-fledged ceasefire in Ukraine will use any forces and means not only on the territory of the country, but also beyond its borders. Therefore, according to him, limiting the forces in Ukraine that do not want an end to the fighting will be a difficult task for Trump.
Peter Weiss
