US Warns Russia Against Diverting Power From Ukraine Nuclear Plant

By Adeleye Kunle

Washington warned Russia on Thursday against diverting energy from a nuclear plant that Kyiv claims has been disconnected from its grid, as calls for an independent inspection of the facility grow.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is under Russian occupation and was disconnected from the national power supply on Thursday, according to the state energy operator.

The US warned Russia against redirecting energy from the site.

“Any attempt to disconnect the plant from the Ukrainian power grid and redirect to occupied areas is unacceptable,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

“No country should turn a nuclear power plant into an active battleground, and we strongly oppose any Russian efforts to weaponize or divert energy from the plant.”

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ukraine informed it that the plant had temporarily lost power, “further emphasizing the urgent need for an IAEA expert mission to travel to the facility.”

“We can’t afford any more downtime.” “I’m determined to personally lead an IAEA mission to the plant in the coming days,” said Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the organization.

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary, urged Russia to agree to a demilitarized zone around the plant and to “allow the IAEA to visit as soon as possible to check on the safety.”

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, has been occupied by Russian troops in southern Ukraine since the beginning of the war and has remained on the frontlines ever since.

Recently, Moscow and Kiev have traded blame for shelling around the complex, which the IAEA describes as “highly volatile” and “underlines the very real risk of a nuclear disaster.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russian actions near the plant a threat.

“Russia has brought Ukrainians and all Europeans one step closer to nuclear disaster,” he said in his nightly address.

According to the White House, President Joe Biden called Zelensky and demanded that Russia return full control of the plant and allow UN nuclear inspectors to enter.

Zelensky said he spoke with Biden earlier in the day and thanked him for the US’ “unwavering” support.

“We discussed Ukraine’s next steps toward victory over the aggressor, as well as the importance of holding Russia accountable for war crimes,” Zelensky said on Twitter.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the army’s headcount to more than two million, including 1.15 million servicemen, beginning in January of next year, according to a document published on a government portal.

In 2017, Putin set the army headcount at around 1.9 million people, with 1.01 million soldiers.

According to Ukraine’s state operator Energoatom, the Zaporizhzhia plant was cut off from the national grid after an ash pit fire in an adjacent thermal power plant disconnected a power line twice.

The three other power lines were “previously damaged during terrorist attacks” by Russian forces, according to the operator.

“The invaders’ actions resulted in a complete disconnect of the (Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant) from the power grid — the first in the plant’s history,” Energoatom explained on Telegram.

It went on to say that “start-up operations to connect one of the reactors to the network are underway.”

Officials in Kiev believe Moscow seized the station in order to divert power to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Energoatom could not be reached immediately for comment on whether the supply had been diverted, the cause of the ash pit fires, or the number of people who were without power.

However, Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov stated that “Russian occupiers cut off electricity in almost all occupied settlements of Zaporizhzhia.”

Independence Day fatalities
Meanwhile, the death toll from an air strike on a train station in central Ukraine rose to 25 on Thursday, as the EU warned that those “responsible for Russian rocket terror will be held accountable.”

Russia responded by claiming that the attack on a rail hub in Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk region, targeted soldiers and killed 200 Ukrainian servicemen.

The attack occurred six months to the day after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, as well as on the day Ukraine celebrated its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Ukrainian Railways said on Thursday that the death toll had risen overnight from 22 to 25, including two children, with another 31 people injured.

The train was “en route to combat zones” in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, according to Moscow’s defense ministry in a daily press briefing.

However, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell “vehemently” condemned “another heinous attack on civilians” by Russia.

Denise Brown, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said the strike was “just another example of the level of suffering that this war is causing the people of Ukraine.”

Ukraine claimed Thursday that it had repatriated 53 children who had been illegally taken to Russia for adoption, but provided no further details.