The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said on Saturday that Ukraine’s Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had been disconnected from its last external power line but was still able to pump electricity through a backup line amid continued shelling in the region. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Raphael Grossi said in a statement that agency experts, who arrived in Zaporizhia on Thursday, were told by senior Ukrainian personnel that the fourth and final operational line was damaged. The other three had gone missing earlier during the conflict. However, IAEA experts learned that the backup line connecting the facility to a nearby thermal power plant was delivering electricity generated by the plant to the external grid, the statement said. The same backup line can also provide backup power to the plant if needed, he added. “We already have a better understanding of the functionality of the backup power line in connecting the facility to the grid,” Grossi said. “This is critical information to assess the overall situation there.” In addition, plant management informed the IAEA that a reactor was disconnected on Saturday afternoon due to grid constraints. Another reactor is still operating and generating electricity both for cooling and other essential safety functions at the site and for households, factories and others through the grid, the statement said. The Zaporizhzhia facility, which is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has been held by Russian forces since early March, but Ukrainian personnel continue to operate it. The Russian-appointed city administration in Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhzhia plant is located, blamed an alleged Ukrainian shelling attack on Saturday morning for the destruction of a key power line. “The supply of electricity to the territories controlled by Ukraine has been suspended due to technical difficulties,” the municipal administration said in a post on its official Telegram channel. It was unclear whether electricity from the plant was still reaching Russian-controlled areas. Vladimir Rogov, a Kremlin-appointed member of the regional administration, told Telegram that a shell hit an area between two reactors. His claims could not be immediately verified. In recent weeks, Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for bombings at and near the plant, while also accusing each other of trying to derail a visit by IAEA experts, whose mission is to help secure the site. Grossi said their presence at the venue is a “game changer”. Russia’s defense ministry said Ukrainian troops launched another attempt to seize the plant late Friday, despite the presence of IAEA monitors, sending 42 boats with 250 special forces personnel and foreign “mercenaries” to attempt a landing on its shores. nearby Kakhovka reservoir. . The ministry said four Russian fighter jets and two gunship helicopters destroyed about 20 boats and the others turned back. He added that Russian artillery struck the Ukrainian-controlled right bank of the Dnieper River to target the retreating landing party. The ministry claimed the Russian military killed 47 soldiers, including 10 “mercenaries,” and wounded 23. The Russian claims could not be independently verified. The plant has suffered repeated complete disconnections from Ukraine’s electricity grid since last week, with the country’s nuclear power operator Enerhoatom blaming mortar shelling and fires near the site. Local Ukrainian authorities have accused Moscow of pounding two towns overlooking the plant across the Dnieper River with rockets, a charge they have also made repeatedly in recent weeks. In Zorya, a small village about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Zaporizhzhia plant, residents on Friday could hear the sound of explosions in the area. It’s not the bombing that scared them the most, but the risk of a radioactive leak at the plant. “The power plant, yes, that’s the scariest,” said Natalia Stokoz, a mother of three. “Because children and adults will be affected and it’s scary if the nuclear plant blows up.” Oleksandr Pasko, a 31-year-old farmer, said “there is stress because we are quite close.” Pascoe said Russian bombing has intensified in recent weeks. During the first weeks of the war, the authorities gave iodine tablets and masks to people living near the plant in case of radiation exposure. Recently, they also distributed iodine pills in the city of Zaporizhzhia, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the plant. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to take on the role of “facilitator” on the Zaporizhia plant issue in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency. The Ukrainian military said on Saturday morning that Russian forces overnight pushed their involvement in the country’s industrial east, while also trying to hold on to areas they seized in northeast and south Ukraine, including the Kherson region listed as a target. of Kiev’s recent counterattack. He added that Ukrainian forces had repelled about a half-dozen Russian attacks in the Donetsk region, including near two towns identified as key targets in Moscow’s bid to seize the rest of the province. The Donetsk region is one of two that make up Ukraine’s industrial heartland, Donbass, along with Luhansk, which was seized by Russian troops in early July. Separately, the British military confirmed in its regular briefing on Saturday morning that Ukrainian forces were conducting “renewed offensive operations” in southern Ukraine, advancing along a broad front west of the Dnieper and focusing on three axes inside the Russian-held Kherson region. “The operation has limited immediate targets, but Ukrainian forces likely achieved a degree of tactical surprise, taking advantage of poor logistics, command and leadership in the Russian armed forces,” the UK Ministry of Defense tweeted. Russian shelling has killed an 8-year-old child and wounded at least four others in a southern Ukrainian town near the Kherson region, Ukrainian officials said. —— Joanna Kozlowska reported from London.
(4/5) The operation has limited immediate objectives, but Ukrainian forces have likely achieved a degree of tactical surprise. takes advantage of poor logistics, management and leadership in the Russian armed forces. — Ministry of Defense 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 3, 2022
