Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says situation ‘critical’ at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant | Russia-Ukraine war News

Ukrainian chief says the plant has been with out energy for seven days, the longest stretch since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the state of affairs on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant is “essential” as the ability has been with out energy for seven days.

“It has been seven days now. There has by no means been something like this earlier than,” Zelenskyy stated in his nightly deal with on Tuesday.

One of many diesel turbines offering emergency energy to the plant is not working, Zelenskyy stated, per week after exterior energy strains went down.

“Russian shelling has reduce the plant off from the electrical energy community,” the Ukrainian chief stated.

“It is a risk to everybody. No terrorist on this planet has ever dared to do with a nuclear energy plant what Russia is doing now.”

The outage is the longest the Russian-occupied plant has gone with out energy since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Additionally it is the tenth time for the reason that begin of the conflict that the plant – the most important in Europe – has been disconnected from the facility grid.

Russia seized management of Zaporizhzhia within the first weeks of the conflict, and the plant’s six reactors, which earlier than the battle produced about one-fifth of Ukraine’s electrical energy, had been shut down after Moscow took over.

However the plant wants energy to keep up cooling and security methods, which forestall reactors from melting – a hazard that might set off a nuclear incident.

Russian officers haven’t commented on the newest statements on situations on the plant.

However Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused one another of risking a probably devastating nuclear catastrophe by attacking the positioning, and have traded blame over the newest blackout.

Rafael Grossi, the top of the Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company (IAEA), the United Nations’s nuclear watchdog, earlier this week decried the cutoff of the exterior energy strains however assigned no blame to both aspect.

In a press release on Tuesday, Grossi stated he was participating with officers from each international locations to revive offsite energy to Zaporizhzhia as quickly as doable.

“I’m in fixed contact with the 2 sides with the goal to allow the plant’s swift re-connection to the electrical energy grid,” the IAEA chief stated.

“Whereas the plant is presently coping because of its emergency diesel turbines – the final line of defence – and there’s no instant hazard so long as they preserve working, it’s clearly not a sustainable state of affairs when it comes to nuclear security,” he added.

“Neither aspect would profit from a nuclear accident.”

IAEA screens are stationed completely at Zaporizhzhia and at Ukraine’s three different nuclear energy stations.

The IAEA is participating with each side of the army battle to assist pave the best way for the restoration of offsite energy to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya NPP as quickly as doable, Director Common @rafaelmgrossi stated at this time: https://t.co/ODSjkR6fXd pic.twitter.com/SbWEh7TBCq

— IAEA – Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) September 30, 2025