Russian shelling cuts power to Ukrainian nuclear plant
Zaporizhzhia plant is using diesel generators to prevent a meltdown
03 November 2022 - 15:59
byPavel Polityuk
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Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Picture: GETTY IMAGES/CARL COURT
Kyiv — Russian attacks were reported across large areas of Ukraine on Thursday, with shelling and missile strikes damaging infrastructure, including electricity supplies to Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Ukrainian officials said.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has again been disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling damaged the remaining high-voltage lines, leaving it with just diesel generators, Ukraine nuclear firm Energoatom said.
The plant, in Russian hands but operated by Ukrainian workers, has 15 days’ worth of fuel to run the generators, Energoatom said. Its reactors need power to keep the fuel inside cool and prevent a meltdown.
A senior official in Moscow said Russian special forces had prevented a Ukrainian attack on the plant. Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, also said Ukrainian forces “continue to shell the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with Western weapons, which could lead to a global catastrophe”.
Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of shelling the plant, accusations that both deny.
Russian strikes were also reported in Kriviy Rih, in central Ukraine, and in Sumy and Kharkiv, in the northeast. There was heavy fighting in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
“The enemy is trying to keep the temporarily captured territories, concentrating its efforts on restraining the actions of the defence forces in certain areas,” Ukraine’s general staff said on Thursday.
Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports.
Russia has said it has targeted infrastructure in order to degrade the Ukrainian military and remove what it says is a potential threat against Russia’s security.
As a result, Ukrainian civilians have endured power cuts and reduced water supplies in recent weeks. Russia denies targeting civilians, though the conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and left some Ukrainian cities in ruins.
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) group of rich democracies will discuss how best to co-ordinate further support for Ukraine when they meet on Thursday in Germany.
British envoy
On Thursday morning, the British ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry in Moscow over Russia’s claims that Britain was involved in a Ukrainian drone strike on the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea.
Ambassador Deborah Bronnert was in the ministry for about 30 minutes, a Reuters journalist at the scene said. A small crowd outside chanted anti-British slogans and held up placards reading “Britain is a terrorist state”.
Russia suspended participation in the UN-brokered Black Sea grain initiative on Saturday after what it said was a major drone attack on vessels in the Bay of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Russia’s defence ministry said the attack was carried out under the guidance and leadership of British navy specialists, an assertion Britain has dismissed as false.
Putin has also accused Britain of being behind attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines in September, which have put the multibillion dollar gas link between Russia and Europe out of use, possibly permanently.
On Wednesday, Russia resumed participation in the grain deal, freeing up exports from Ukraine, after Turkey and the UN helped keep Ukrainian grain flowing for several days without a Russian role in inspections.
Russia’s defence ministry justified the resumption by saying it had received guarantees from Ukraine that it would not use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia. Ukraine said it had made no new commitments beyond the terms of the deal agreed in July.
Seven ships carrying agricultural products left Ukrainian Black Sea ports on Thursday, Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said. The vessels were loaded with 290,000 tonnes of food products and were headed towards European and Asian countries, it said in a statement without elaborating.
The grain deal has helped alleviate a global food crisis by lifting a de facto Russian blockade on Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain suppliers. The prospect of it collapsing this week revived fears of a worsening food crisis and rising prices. The prices of wheat, soya beans, corn and rapeseed fell sharply on global markets after Russia’s announcement.
Counteroffensive
In the south, a Ukrainian counteroffensive has left Russian forces fighting to hold their ground around the city of Kherson, where Russian-installed authorities were urging residents to evacuate, the Ukrainian military said. Kherson was the first city to fall to Russian forces after they launched their invasion on February 24.
Residents who collaborated with occupying forces were leaving and some departing medical staff had taken equipment from hospitals, the Ukraine military said.
Residents of the town of Nova Zburivka had been given three days to leave and were told that evacuation would be obligatory from November 5.
Russian authorities have repeatedly said Ukraine could be preparing to attack the massive Kakhovka dam, upriver on the Dnipro, and flood the region. Kyiv denies that.
“Obviously, we are afraid of this. That is why we are leaving,” resident Pavel Ryazskiy, who was evacuated to Crimea, said of the possibility the dam could be destroyed.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Russian shelling cuts power to Ukrainian nuclear plant
Zaporizhzhia plant is using diesel generators to prevent a meltdown
Kyiv — Russian attacks were reported across large areas of Ukraine on Thursday, with shelling and missile strikes damaging infrastructure, including electricity supplies to Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Ukrainian officials said.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has again been disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling damaged the remaining high-voltage lines, leaving it with just diesel generators, Ukraine nuclear firm Energoatom said.
The plant, in Russian hands but operated by Ukrainian workers, has 15 days’ worth of fuel to run the generators, Energoatom said. Its reactors need power to keep the fuel inside cool and prevent a meltdown.
A senior official in Moscow said Russian special forces had prevented a Ukrainian attack on the plant. Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, also said Ukrainian forces “continue to shell the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with Western weapons, which could lead to a global catastrophe”.
Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of shelling the plant, accusations that both deny.
Russian strikes were also reported in Kriviy Rih, in central Ukraine, and in Sumy and Kharkiv, in the northeast. There was heavy fighting in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
“The enemy is trying to keep the temporarily captured territories, concentrating its efforts on restraining the actions of the defence forces in certain areas,” Ukraine’s general staff said on Thursday.
Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports.
Russia has said it has targeted infrastructure in order to degrade the Ukrainian military and remove what it says is a potential threat against Russia’s security.
As a result, Ukrainian civilians have endured power cuts and reduced water supplies in recent weeks. Russia denies targeting civilians, though the conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and left some Ukrainian cities in ruins.
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) group of rich democracies will discuss how best to co-ordinate further support for Ukraine when they meet on Thursday in Germany.
British envoy
On Thursday morning, the British ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry in Moscow over Russia’s claims that Britain was involved in a Ukrainian drone strike on the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea.
Ambassador Deborah Bronnert was in the ministry for about 30 minutes, a Reuters journalist at the scene said. A small crowd outside chanted anti-British slogans and held up placards reading “Britain is a terrorist state”.
Russia suspended participation in the UN-brokered Black Sea grain initiative on Saturday after what it said was a major drone attack on vessels in the Bay of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Russia’s defence ministry said the attack was carried out under the guidance and leadership of British navy specialists, an assertion Britain has dismissed as false.
Putin has also accused Britain of being behind attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines in September, which have put the multibillion dollar gas link between Russia and Europe out of use, possibly permanently.
On Wednesday, Russia resumed participation in the grain deal, freeing up exports from Ukraine, after Turkey and the UN helped keep Ukrainian grain flowing for several days without a Russian role in inspections.
Russia’s defence ministry justified the resumption by saying it had received guarantees from Ukraine that it would not use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia. Ukraine said it had made no new commitments beyond the terms of the deal agreed in July.
Seven ships carrying agricultural products left Ukrainian Black Sea ports on Thursday, Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said. The vessels were loaded with 290,000 tonnes of food products and were headed towards European and Asian countries, it said in a statement without elaborating.
The grain deal has helped alleviate a global food crisis by lifting a de facto Russian blockade on Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain suppliers. The prospect of it collapsing this week revived fears of a worsening food crisis and rising prices. The prices of wheat, soya beans, corn and rapeseed fell sharply on global markets after Russia’s announcement.
Counteroffensive
In the south, a Ukrainian counteroffensive has left Russian forces fighting to hold their ground around the city of Kherson, where Russian-installed authorities were urging residents to evacuate, the Ukrainian military said. Kherson was the first city to fall to Russian forces after they launched their invasion on February 24.
Residents who collaborated with occupying forces were leaving and some departing medical staff had taken equipment from hospitals, the Ukraine military said.
Residents of the town of Nova Zburivka had been given three days to leave and were told that evacuation would be obligatory from November 5.
Russian authorities have repeatedly said Ukraine could be preparing to attack the massive Kakhovka dam, upriver on the Dnipro, and flood the region. Kyiv denies that.
“Obviously, we are afraid of this. That is why we are leaving,” resident Pavel Ryazskiy, who was evacuated to Crimea, said of the possibility the dam could be destroyed.
Reuters
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