Concern Over Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant High As Fighting Continues Across Southern Ukraine

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is still delivering electricity to Ukraine’s power grid via a reserve line,

A Russian-installed official in the southern city of Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhzhya nuclear-power plant is located, told Russian media on September 4 that there had been no new shelling in the area, although fears of a possible environmental catastrophe remain high.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said on September 3 that IAEA experts at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhya plant had reported that the station’s fourth and last external power line was out of commission. The plant was still delivering electricity to Ukraine’s power grid via a reserve line, which also can be used to provide backup power to the plant in an emergency.

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Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting to recapture the plant by force, allegations Kyiv denies.

Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of deploying heavy weaponry at the site, knowing that Ukraine likely would not fire on it. Moscow denies those allegations but has resisted efforts to demilitarize the area in order to avert an environmental catastrophe.

Earlier this month, Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in the south of the country and particularly in the Kherson region, which Moscow seized shortly after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February.

Late on September 4, a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted a photo on Facebook of Ukrainian soldiers lifting the national flag over a village near Kherson, claiming it had been retaken from Russian occupying forces, marking a likely morale boost for Kyiv if confirmed.

"Vysokopillya. Kherson region. Ukraine. Today," Kyrylo Tymoshenko wrote in the caption of the photo of three soldiers, one of them attaching a Ukrainian flag to a post.

Elsewhere in the region, Russian shelling was reported overnight in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolayiv, the city’s mayor said on September 4.

Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said a medical facility and some residential buildings were damaged, but he did not report any casualties.

Mykolayiv, a port city on the Southern Bug River near the Black Sea, and the surrounding area have been subjected to regular shelling for the past few weeks.

On September 3, Mykolayiv region Governor Vitaliy Kim said a child had been killed and five other people injured in rocket attacks in the area.

Ukrainian social media channels on September 4 reported new explosions at the Antonivskiy Bridge in the city of Kherson.

Those reports could not be confirmed.

The bridge, which Russia depends upon to supply its troops on the right bank of the Dnieper River, was damaged by Ukrainian missiles in recent weeks. The Russian military has been attempting to repair it or to set up a pontoon bridge in the area.

Meanwhile, the northern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, also came under fire overnight, according to an alert by the region’s emergency service. One person was killed and two injured, according to Governor Oleh Synyehubov.

​With reporting by Reuters and UNIAN