Truce in place at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as technicians prepare critical power line repairs

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that it had negotiated a temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to allow essential repairs. According to Reuters, this is the sixth temporary ceasefire since the end of last year.

"A localized ceasefire came into effect today along the front line near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, clearing the way for essential repairs to power lines to prevent the risk of a nuclear accident," the UN agency announced on social media platform X.

Ukrainian and Russian technicians will begin repairs in the coming days on the 750-kilovolt power line known as Dniprovska, which supplies electricity from external sources to cool the plant’s reactors. The line was damaged in fighting and disconnected at the end of March. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant had been relying on a single 330-kilovolt line for the electricity needed to cool its six reactors. The plant’s reactors are shut down. However, according to the IAEA, this line was also out of service several times in recent weeks, and the plant was operating on emergency diesel generators.

Russia seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in March 2022, shortly after the start of its invasion of Ukraine. The warring parties accuse each other of attacking the facility. Last weekend, Russia said a Ukrainian drone had damaged the wall of a turbine hall. Moscow called it a targeted attack. Kyiv denied this, saying it was another Russian propaganda ploy. Ukrainian officials said it was unclear why Ukraine would strike its own nuclear power plant, located on territory it is trying to regain control of.