Ukraine Crisis Goes NuclearTony Cartalucci Right Sector, along with other Neo-Nazi militant fronts, spearheaded violence that led to the overthrow of the elected government of Ukraine in late 2013 and early 2014 in what was called the Euromaiden protests. Right Sector has since been used as a paramilitary organization by Kiev in an attempt to assert control over the rest of the country. Its mounting list of atrocities has led Kiev and its NATO backers to increasingly deny ties to the extremist front however, it is clear that the group is operating nationally and in tandem with security forces loyal to Kiev. Zaporizhia province neighbors Donetsk, which along with Luhansk province, recently held referendums leading to greater autonomy from Kiev and closer ties to neighboring Russia. Zaporizhia, laying between Donetsk and now Russian Crimea, could potentially be the next province to escape out from under the unelected regime currently occupying Kiev. The storming of Zaporizhia nuclear power plant by Neo-Nazis may appear to be an act of extreme irresponsibility carried out by witless, dangerous thugs, but the operation may have a much more sinister purpose. A May 7 Reuters article titled, NATO experts advise Ukraine on nuclear plant safety, stated: The article would continue by stating: And perhaps the most telling statement of all claimed: Indeed, Ukraine is not a NATO member, and it is almost inconceivable under what circumstances NATO troops could enter Ukrainian territory almost inconceivable. But a threat to one or more of Ukraines 15 nuclear reactors might give NATO the pretext necessary to deploy troops into Ukraine, particularly in the east where Kiev is unable to assert control. While NATO cannot justify intervening in Ukraines internal political crisis directly, it may attempt to make a case that a nuclear catastrophe directly threatens NATO members. Ukraine is the site of the worst nuclear accident in human history when in 1986, just north of Kiev, a reactor at the Chernobyl power plant exploded, exposing millions to radioactive contamination across Ukraine itself, Russia, and Europe. The reactor still poses a threat to human health and the environment even today. With this catastrophe in mind, NATO may believe that by provoking a security risk to Ukraines remaining reactors, particularly the facility in Zaporizhia Europes largest it can create enough fear and support for a possible intervention in Zaporizhia province, preventing anti-Kiev forces from peeling the region away from Kiev as they have in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea. NATOs Dangerous Game Threatens All of Humanity Whether NATO is in fact attempting to intentionally create threats to Ukraines nuclear power plants as a pretext to intervene more directly in Ukraine or not is irrelevant. It is directly supporting the regime in Kiev that had organized and continues to perpetuate Right Sector who is currently creating such threats. However, with NATO being behind the chemical attack in Damascus, Syria in August of 2013 the idea of NATO fabricating a similar pretext in Ukraine is not beyond the realm of possibilities. NATOs inability to condemn and cut ties with the regime in Kiev, allows the menace of Right Sector to persist. The solution, likewise, is not more NATO intervention across the rest of Ukraine, but rather the undoing of the unelected regime it has put into power in Kiev in the first place. The disaster in Chernobyl involved a single reactor. Zaporizhia has six reactors. Threatening the security and safe operation of the facility in Zaporizhia either directly as a ploy to intervene, or indirectly by propping up the regime that created and continues to use Right Sector to augment its struggling security forces, puts the entire world in danger. The fallout from Zaporizhia in the event of a catastrophe could effect millions across Europe, Russia, and Eurasia. Should Ukraines Zaporizhia facility continue to be put in danger, it is far more realistic and justifiable for Russia, not NATO, to mobilize and deploy, or support within Zaporizhia province, security forces to provide ample protection. For NATO, if a pretext to intervene is their goal, it will require time and may never materialize at all, considering their failures in Syria and the lack of trust or legitimacy they now command. In the meantime, Russia and its allies in eastern Ukraine can continue working to move Zaporizhia away from the dangerous regime in Kiev and its equally dangerous and irresponsible backers in NATO just as has been done with Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk. Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine New Eastern Outlook, where this article first appeared. 