Russia has deliberately disconnected the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) from Ukraine’s power grid to test its integration into the Russian network, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on October 12.
The move marks the first such attempt in the history of nuclear energy, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Sybiha stated that the Zaporizhzhia plant has been in blackout mode for nearly three weeks, forcing operators to rely on backup diesel generators to sustain critical safety systems.
“Not only is this an attempted theft of a peaceful Ukrainian nuclear facility. Unauthorized actions of Russia’s Rosatom violate internationally recognized nuclear safety protocols, contradict Ukrainian license, and directly threaten a nuclear incident,” he wrote on X.
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The minister accused Moscow of attempting to “deceive the IAEA and the entire technical and diplomatic community” by deflecting blame for the blackout.
He added that Russia has stationed troops and weapons at the plant, mined its perimeter, and is conducting “technically unacceptable experiments.”
Ukraine’s state energy operator Energoatom reported on September 23 that Russian forces had struck and disabled the last remaining power line connecting the ZNPP to Ukraine’s electrical grid—resulting in the tenth blackout at the facility since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed on October 6 that its monitoring team heard “several rounds of incoming and outgoing shelling from near the site.” After Russian media claimed Ukrainian forces were responsible, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the accusations “a deliberate provocation by Russia.”
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The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant—Europe’s largest—has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. Although its six reactors have been shut down since the first weeks of the invasion, the plant still depends on a steady external power supply to cool nuclear fuel and prevent a potential incident.
Earlier, the Kyiv-based human rights group Truth Hounds reported that more than 200 civilians—including employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant—were unlawfully detained, tortured, and coerced by Russian forces in the occupied city of Enerhodar.
The September 24 report documented at least 226 cases of illegal detention and warned that forcing Ukrainian nuclear specialists to cooperate with Russia’s Rosatom poses serious risks to the safety of Europe’s largest nuclear facility.
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