International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi (not seen), visits Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Russian-controlled Energodar on March 29, 2023.
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Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a local ceasefire to allow for the repair of backup power lines to the Zaporizhia nuclear plant, according to the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, said in a short statement on Friday that a ceasefire had come into effect in southern Ukraine to allow the restoration of a 330-kilovolt supply line to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
“Demining activities are underway to ensure safe access for repair teams,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grassi said on social media.
The local ceasefire, which the IAEA said it helped secure, comes shortly after the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian forces controlled the Zaporizhia nuclear plant for the first few weeks of the invasion.
Located in the southeastern part of the country, the plant is Ukraine’s largest and houses six of its 15 operating nuclear power reactors. It has recently become dependent on external power to sustain all essential nuclear safety functions.
Both sides have accused each other of increasing the risk of a catastrophic accident by launching an attack near the plant.
Russian nuclear power company Rosatom said on Friday that IAEA experts at the power plant were monitoring repairs to a disconnected power line, state news outlet RIA Novosti said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment as this article went live.
View of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant from the right bank of the Dnipro River. At this time, the left bank of the Dnipro River, including the nuclear plant, was occupied by Russian forces.
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Earlier this month, the IAEA warned that the Zaporizhia nuclear plant was operating on its last remaining power line, reportedly as a result of military activity near a switchyard operated by the Zaporizhia thermal power plant.
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War think tank said on Tuesday that Russia’s fifth year of war had not started well for President Vladimir Putin, saying that Ukrainian forces had recently made the most significant gains on the battlefield since the country’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk Oblast in August 2024.
(Tags to be translated)Politics(T)Russia(T)Ukraine(T)Foreign Policy(T)Vladimir Putin(T)Nuclear Power Plant(T)Nuclear Power(T)Volodymyr Zelensky(T)United Nations(T)Centrus Energy Corporation(T)VT)
