Ukraine says nuclear power plant goes offline after Russian shelling

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been cut off from the Ukrainian grid after fires sparked by Russian shelling cut its last transmission line, the facility’s operator said.

Energoatom said in a statement that Russian forces had been carrying out “intensive shelling” of the area around Zaporozhye in recent days.

The UN watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday that the plant’s last main line had been fed to the grid, but was still being fed through a backup line.

Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which still has two experts at the plant, and Energoatom did not immediately explain the consequences of the line being cut.

The development comes a day after UN inspectors will report on their efforts to avert a potential disaster at a Ukrainian site engulfed by the Russian war.

The Russian military earlier on Monday accused Ukrainian forces of “provocation” at the plant, which is located in an administrative area set up by Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Kyiv forces targeted the plant’s territory with drones on Sunday, adding that Russian forces were able to shoot down the drones.

Ukrainian forces also shelled the neighbouring city of Enejodar twice overnight, the ministry said.

Kremlin forces have held the plant since early March, and the two sides have accused each other of endangering the plant. Ukrainian employees at the plant continue to operate it.

In a dangerous mission, experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency travelled across a war zone to reach the factory last week.

Ukraine’s state nuclear power plant operator Energoatom said on Monday that four of six inspectors from the United Nations nuclear agency had completed their work and left the site.

Energoatom said two of the experts were expected to remain at the plant for the long term.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podoljak applauded the IAEA’s decision to keep some experts at the plant.

“There are now Russian troops who don’t understand what’s going on and don’t properly assess the risks,” Mr Podoljak said.

“There are some of our workers there who need some kind of protection, and people from the international community stand by their side and tell (the Russian army): ‘Don’t touch these people, let them work,'” he added.

United Nations inspectors are scheduled to brief the Security Council on Tuesday about what they found during their visit. The plant has been largely paralyzed in a bitter war that has battered the energy market.

Meanwhile, a senior Kremlin official has blamed Western sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine that caused Moscow to halt gas supplies to Europe.

In some of the most blunt comments yet on Moscow and Western Europe’s stand-off over energy supply, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the pumping problem “due to sanctions”.

“There are no other reasons for pumping problems,” Mr Peskov claimed.

He said sanctions on Moscow and Russian companies had created problems with equipment maintenance, although Western governments and engineers refuted that.

Russian energy company Gazprom announced on Friday that the supply of natural gas to the west via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will be extended indefinitely as a turbine oil leak needs to be repaired.

The move sent gas prices in Europe soaring and hammered global stock markets.

High energy prices and possible shortages in Western Europe this winter have sounded alarm bells among governments, especially those in the European Union.

Mr. Peskov firmly blamed the damage on sanctions, which he claimed prevented the machines from working properly, although experts say this is not true.

German officials have rejected the explanations, saying they are nothing more than a political power play. Germany’s Siemens Energy, which makes the turbines used in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, says it can repair turbine leaks while natural gas continues to flow through the pipeline.