Ahead Of UN Watchdog's Report, Shelling Cuts Power And Water Near Occupied Ukrainian Nuclear Plant

A soldier wearing a Russian flag on his uniform stands guard near the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

Fresh shelling has knocked out power and water in the town near the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in war-torn southeastern Ukraine.

But it is unclear whether the blackout presented any heightened risk, since the last of six of the Russian-occupied facility's reactors was taken offline a day earlier.

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The artillery barrages came ahead of a report issued on September 6 by the UN's atomic watchdog saying the current situation at the Zaporizhzhya power plant is "untenable" and there is "an urgent need for interim measures" to avoid a nuclear accident.

The Russian-appointed occupation authorities as well as the displaced mayor of the town of Enerhodar where Zaporizhzhya is located both confirmed the electricity outage on Telegram.

The mayor, Dmytro Orlov, said the water supply was knocked out as well by at least one explosion around 12:20 p.m. local time.

Russian-backed authority Vladimir Rogov said there had been seven explosions at or near the power plant's training center.

Each side has routinely blamed the other for shelling and other dangers to Europe's largest nuclear plant, which was occupied by Russian forces early in the six-month-old invasion.

Zaporizhzhya's operator, Enerhoatom, said a day earlier that Reactor No. 6 was "switched off" due to a blaze caused by artillery fire in the area.

It said it would be reconnected once the fire was extinguished.

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, blamed Russian troops.

"Today the last power transmission line connecting the plant to the energy system of Ukraine was damaged due to another provocative Russian shelling," Zelenskiy said in an address late on September 5.

"Due to Russian provocation, the Zaporizhzhya plant is one step away from a radiation disaster."

Zelenskiy added that the timing of the alleged Russian shelling of Zaporizhzhya ahead of the report by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was a "very eloquent" statement of Russia's motives, saying Moscow "doesn't care what the international community decides.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, accused Russia on September 5 of "reckless behavior" in connection with the Soviet-built plant amid continuing concerns that a Chernobyl-style nuclear catastrophe could occur.

SEE ALSO: Russia's Stranglehold On The World's Nuclear Power Cycle

As Russia's unprovoked invasion grinds on, a major Ukrainian offensive against the occupying troops continues in southern Ukraine.

With Russian forces focused on attacks in the south and east, the Moscow-installed authorities in occupied parts of the Kherson region postponed plans for a referendum on joining Russia.

Ukrainian and Western officials have dismissed the legitimacy of any such vote, reminiscent of the referendum staged by occupying Russian troops to help annex Ukraine's Crimea in 2014.

Kyiv officials have threatened punishment for Ukrainians who participate in any illegal referendum.

Zelenskiy warned over the weekend that Russia was preparing "a decisive energy blow" as the winter months approached, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that "Russia is no longer a reliable energy partner."

Gas prices in Europe jumped 30 percent early on September 5 as Russia announced the indefinite shutting of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AP