Russia claims Ukraine disconnected main power line to Zaporizhzhia plant

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Russia on Tuesday claimed that the main power line connected to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been disconnected by Ukraine.

Ukraine turned off the 750 kilovolt Dnieper line early Tuesday, Renat Karchaa, an adviser to Rosenergoatom, a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom, said on Russian state television channel Rossiya-24.

Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the claim, and independent verification of Russia's claims is difficult due to the ongoing war.

A day earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to the only available backup power line, but that the situation remained “extremely fragile.”

“The ZNPP’s connection to the single remaining 330 kilovolt (kV) power line – out of six such backup lines before the conflict – was cut on 1 March due to damage sustained on the other side of the Dnipro River and restored in the evening of 1 July,” an IAEA statement said.

It further said the work to repair the line was hindered by the difficult security situation in southern Ukraine, adding the reconnection of the 330 kV power line is significant because the plant has been relying on a single main 750 kV line.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, the biggest in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world, has been under Russia's control since March last year, soon after the start of the Ukraine war.

Since then, fears of a nuclear catastrophe persist as both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling near the plant.