Ukraine accuses Russia of deliberately severing external link to Zaporizhzhia plant
(Reuters) -Ukraine’s foreign minister accused Russia on Sunday of deliberately cutting the external power line of the Russian-owned Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in order to connect the plant to Moscow’s power grid.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow was trying to test reconnection to the Russian grid.
Ukraine has long feared that Moscow would try to divert the plant’s production to its own grid. But Russian officials have denied any intention to try to restart the facility, which was seized by Moscow forces in the first weeks of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The power plant is not currently producing electricity but has been without an external power source for about three weeks. Officials used emergency diesel generators to provide the power needed to keep fuel cool on site and protect against meltdown.
“Russia deliberately disconnected the facility from the Ukrainian grid in order to vigorously test reconnection to the Russian grid,” Sybiha wrote to X in English. He condemned “the attempted theft of a peaceful Ukrainian nuclear facility.”
“Moscow is trying to deceive the IAEA and the entire technical and diplomatic community by claiming that the problem originates from someone other than itself,” Sybiha said. he said.
Each side accused the other of carrying out the bombardment that caused the line to be cut.
The IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, said last week that the process of restoring external connectivity was ongoing and has repeatedly called on both sides to avoid actions that would jeopardize nuclear security.
In his video speech at night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that it was not in Russia’s interest to restore security at the facility. He said the IAEA needed to establish “a clearer, more honest position”.
There was no reaction from Russia to Ukraine’s claims.
Last week, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying that there is no reason for now to restart the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the absence of an external power source. Before this report, Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom was quoted as saying it was preparing to restart the plant.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by David Gregorio)
