The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces, “has lost its connection again” with the electricity grid, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose experts are on site, announced this Saturday in a statement.
The last line still in operation “has been damaged,” the IAEA explained, noting that the other three had been “previously lost during the conflict.”
This incident occurred “after new bombardments in the area”, according to information from the Ukrainian authorities to the UN body. However, the ‘site’ continues to function “thanks to a help line”, specifies the IAEA.
Already on August 25, the exchange was completely disconnected from the Ukrainian network for the first time, before the connection was restored.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the largest in Europe, has been occupied by Russian troops since March.
After weeks of bombing that raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe, an IAEA team arrived at the nuclear plant on Thursday to carry out an inspection.
Moscow and kyiv accuse each other of attacks on the plant, where some elements of the IAEA mission will remain until “Sunday or Monday”, including the director himself, Rafael Grossi.
Ukraine accused Russia of having withdrawn its weapons before the arrival of the IAEA team and on Friday announced that it had attacked a Russian base in Energodar, in the south of the country and not far from the nuclear plant.
On August 19, during a meeting in Lviv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Erdogan expressed concern about a possible nuclear disaster in the event of damage to these facilities.
“We are worried, we don’t want another Chernobyl,” Erdogan said, referring to the 1986 nuclear accident in Ukraine.
AFP highlights that the situation in Zaporizhia worries many international leaders, since the area has been the target of several bombardments, which raises fears of a nuclear disaster.
On Thursday, after an inspection of the facilities, the director of the IAEA assured that the “physical integrity” of the factory had been “violated on several occasions” and stressed that this “cannot continue to happen.”
However, Rafael Grossi did not name those responsible for the situation.
Turkey maintains good relations with Moscow and kyiv: Ankara provided Ukraine with military drones, but refused to adhere to Western sanctions enacted against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
Source: TSF
