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Work Repairs to Ukraine’s damaged power supply have begun Zaporizhzhya Nuclear power plant, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said on Saturday. The repairs are expected to end a four-week indefinite outage that left it dependent on backup generators.
Russian and Ukrainian armies have established special deconfliction zones to safely complete repairs, the head of International Atomic Energy AgencyRafael Grossi. He described the restoration of off-site power as “critical to nuclear safety and security.”
“Both parties continued to engage constructively with the IAEA to enable the complex reparations plan to move forward,” Grossi said in a statement.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Grinchuk confirmed that Ukrainian experts were involved in restoring power lines at the plant and said that its stable operation and connection with the Ukrainian power grid was essential to prevent a nuclear incident. He also said it was the 42nd time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 that the plant’s power lines had to be restored.
The Zaporizhia plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, has been operating on diesel back-up generators since September 23, when its last remaining external power line was severed in attacks that Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for.
The plant is in Russian-controlled territory and has not been in service since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incident, it needs reliable electricity to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel.
Air strikes continue
Elsewhere, Russia continued aerial bombardment of Ukraine, launching three missiles and 164 drones overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Saturday. It said that Ukrainian forces shot down 136 drones.
Two people were injured after a Russian drone targeted a gas station in the Zarichny district of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, local authorities said Saturday. According to regional governor Oleh Hryhorov, they were two women aged 51 and 53.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its air defenses had shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine