The Ukrainian nuclear company Energoatom has denounced Thursday that the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant, under control of Russian forces since the end of February as part of the invasion of the country, has suffered a blackout due to a power outage following an artillery attack by Russian troops.
«The Zaporiyia nuclear power plant is completely without power because of an artillery attack by racists,» Energoatom has said in a message on its Telegram account. Thus, it has detailed that the attack was executed on Wednesday and has pointed out that it would have caused damage to two high-voltage lines, which caused 20 generators to become active.
As a result, the company has stressed that «the needs of the power supply scheme of the plant have been optimized, with nine generators operational,» while two reactors have been cooled. «Generator operations in a total blackout situation will be active for 15 days. The countdown has begun,» he added.
Energoatom has further explained that «due to the occupation of the plant and interference in its work by representatives (of the Russian company) Rosatom, the possibilities for the Ukrainian authorities to maintain safety at the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant are significantly limited.»
«We again call on the international community to urgently take measures for the demilitarization, as soon as possible, of the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant, the withdrawal of all Russian personnel from the territory of the station and the city of Energodar and the return of the plant to full Ukrainian control, in the name of everyone’s safety,» he concluded.
For his part, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, assured Thursday that Russian troops have prevented «a terrorist attack» on the facilities, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. «We have received information from our special services about the dismantling of a terrorist act against the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant,» he said.
Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukraine of attacking targets at the nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian control since February 28, as part of the military offensive unleashed on February 14 on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia has argued that it should operate the plant, especially after annexing the region along with Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk.
