A temporary local ceasefire has come into effect in the area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, necessary for the important repair of a damaged power line. This was reported by the press service of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
According to the agreements reached, technical specialists from both sides should begin repairing the 750-kilovolt Dniprovska line, which was damaged as a result of hostilities, in the coming days. The work will be carried out under the supervision of IAEA experts.
Before the start of the repair, large-scale demining is planned at the site where the specialists will work.
The IAEA recalled that this is the sixth temporary ceasefire agreed with Ukraine and the Russian Federation since the end of last year to support the external power supply of the plant and ensure nuclear safety.
The 750 kV line has been out of service for more than two months. Because of this, the Zaporizhzhia NPP remained completely dependent on the only 330 kV line, which provides electricity to the cooling system of the six shut-down reactors. In recent weeks, the plant has repeatedly lost access to this line, after which it was forced to switch to emergency diesel generators as a last resort.
On the night of June 3, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was completely left without external power supply due to the disconnection of the last available power transmission line. This was the 17th blackout at the ZNPP since the beginning of the Russian occupation and the fifth since the beginning of 2026.
Six of the seven “pillars of nuclear safety” identified by the IAEA at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion were violated at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. These include physical integrity, equipment serviceability, lack of pressure on personnel, reliable power supply, uninterrupted logistics, radiation monitoring, and functioning communication channels.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stressed that there are “serious safety risks” at the Zaporizhia NPP. He also recalled that all six reactors are in a cold shutdown state, and under current conditions, none of them can be safely started.
The Ukrainian military previously filmed how the Russian army holds equipment on the territory of the captured Zaporizhia NPP. Energoatom NNEGC declares nuclear terrorism and emphasizes that Russian invaders continue to endanger Ukraine and the entire world by turning a captured civilian facility into a military base.
