After the occupation of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant by Russian troops, Ukraine fears a collapse of the national power grid. Should the nuclear power plant actually be damaged in the course of ongoing fighting, a hard winter is not just in store for Ukraine.
Concern is growing in Ukraine that Russia wants to disconnect the country's largest nuclear power plant from the national power grid. The state energy supplier Energoatom announced that there were indications that Russian troops were preparing to shut down the reactors that were still in operation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. A failure of electricity supplies from Zaporizhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, would hit southern Ukraine in particular.
In the face of war and energy shortages, the country is preparing for the most difficult winter since independence. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he would work with Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve the dispute over the nuclear power plant.
"The Russian military is currently looking for fuel suppliers for diesel generators," said Energoatom. The diesel generators were supposed to keep the cooling systems for the highly radioactive nuclear fuels running after the nuclear reactors were shut down. The company reiterated the accusation that Russia was preparing a "large-scale provocation". Conversely, the government in Moscow had leveled exactly the same allegation against Ukraine.
Internationally, special attention is paid to Zaporizhia, because a hit in the reactors could trigger a nuclear catastrophe similar to that in Chernobyl in 1986. At that time, not only was the immediate area permanently irradiated, but radioactive fallout also fell in several European countries. At the beginning of August, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, warned of fighting in the vicinity of the nuclear power plant before "playing with fire, with possible catastrophic consequences".
On Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the Russian military presence would guarantee that Chernobyl would not happen again. On Thursday, Russia rejected the United Nations' proposal to demilitarize Zaporizhia.
After a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, the Turkish President announced that he would discuss Zaporizhia with Putin. Zelenskyy told him that Russia had to remove all mines in the area. "We will discuss these issues with Putin and specifically ask him that Russia do what it must do as an important step for world peace," Erdogan said.
The power plant was captured by Russian forces in March. It is close to the current front line. In the past, Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling the nuclear power plant. Bullets smashed into the area. Despite the Russian occupation, the plant is maintained by Ukrainian technicians. Only two of the six reactors are currently running at full power.
