International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi (not visible) 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 repairs to backup power lines to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced in a brief statement on Friday that a ceasefire has come into effect in southern Ukraine to allow the restoration of the 330 kilovolt supply line to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
“Demining operations continue to ensure safe access for repair teams,” IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on social media.
The local ceasefire, which the IAEA said it helped secure, came just after the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian forces have taken control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since the first weeks of the invasion.
Located in the southeast of the country, the power plant is the largest in Ukraine and houses six of the 15 operating nuclear power plants. These days, we rely on outside forces to maintain all critical nuclear safety functions.
Both sides have accused each other of increasing the risk of catastrophe by launching attacks near nuclear power plants.
Russian nuclear power company Rosatom announced on Friday that IAEA experts at the power plant were monitoring repairs to downed power lines, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.
As of this article’s publication, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not responded to CNBC’s request for comment.
Zaporizhia nuclear power plant seen from the right bank of the Dnipro River. The left bank of the Dnipro River, including the nuclear power plant, is currently occupied by Russian forces.
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Earlier this month, the IAEA warned that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was operating on the last remaining power lines as a result of military activity near the switchyard operated by the Zaporizhzhia thermal power plant.
Analysts at the Institute for War Studies think tank said on Tuesday that the fifth year of the Russian war did not start well for President Vladimir Putin, noting that the Ukrainian military recently achieved its biggest battlefield victory since the invasion of Russia’s Kursk Oblast in August 2024.
