Ukraine: Russia is trying to include the Zaporizhzhia NPP in the Annexed regions

Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant switched to gas generators on Thursday after being disconnected from the Ukrainian electricity grid.

This became necessary after Russian shelling severed the last remaining high-voltage lines connecting the plant to the Ukrainian energy grid, the Ukrainian nuclear energy company Energoatom reported.

The facility, located in southern Ukraine, is the largest in Europe. It has fuel for the generators for 15 days. Although the six reactors are closed, they still need a constant supply of electricity to keep the nuclear fuel inside cooled and prevent a disaster, reminds Reuters.

Units five and six have been put into a cold state, Energoatom said.

"Yesterday... the last two high-voltage lines of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, connecting it to the Ukrainian power system, were damaged. At 11:04 p.m., the plant went into full blackout mode. All 20 diesel generators were switched on," was reported in a statement in Telegram.

According to "Energoatom", in "the near future they (Russia) will try to repair and connect the communication lines of the NPP in the direction of the temporarily occupied Crimea and Donbas".

The Zaporizhzhia NPP was captured by Russian forces at the beginning of the war, but they left its Ukrainian staff to run it.

So far, Moscow has not commented on the situation at the plant.

The facility, which provided about a fifth of Ukraine's electricity before Russia's invasion, has switched to backup generators several times because of external power outages due to shelling damage.

Russia and Ukraine blame each other for shelling the site, which damaged buildings and raised the risk of a nuclear accident.

The UN's nuclear safety watchdog, the IAEA, is pushing for a demilitarized zone around the plant to prevent further shelling.

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