In the War On Terrorism, nuclear power plants have become a target of Al-Qaeda and their allies. Both France and the United States have troops guarding some of their facilities. With 10 Nuclear Power Plants and an ongoing war against Chechen rebels, Russia had good reason to take threats to them seriously. According to a mid-October 1999 Russian Defense Ministry press service release, rebel Chechen field commander Salman Raduyev was preparing groups of saboteurs who will be sent to attack Russian nuclear installations, including nuclear power plants.

According to Rostov region police department chief Major General Vitaly Shevchenko, the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant guard mount was to be strengthened in March 2002 by a North Caucasus district Interior Ministry battalion. This battalion will be deployed in the former North Caucasus military district's airborne assault division compound. The paratroopers relocated to the town of Kamyshin. 

The criminal situation in the town of Volgodonsk and its outskirts posed a serious threat. A regional police department brigade was already taking measures to scale down tensions in the town and near the power plant. They primarily checked criminal gathering places and monitored refugees not yet registered as permanent residents of the region. As many as 150 police patrol service officers will have been sent to Volgodonsk by 25 March. - Adam Geibel