EU: Russia must “unconditionally” pull forces from Zaporizhzhia NPP

The spokesperson of the EU’s foreign policy service made the statement.

Last week, the statement says, the ZNPP again lost connection to its last remaining external power supply source.

This was the tenth such incident since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine — and it is the longest and most serious outage so far, particularly since ongoing hostilities continue to obstruct repairs and the reconnection of power lines.

“We call on Russia to immediately cease all military operations around the nuclear plant to enable the urgent restoration of power lines,” the statement reads.

At present, the nuclear plant relies exclusively on emergency diesel generators, which provide electricity for cooling the six shut-down reactors and performing other key nuclear safety and security functions, the statement said.

A prolonged loss of power could eventually put the plant’s safety systems at risk.

“Russia must immediately, unconditionally and completely withdraw all its forces, military equipment and other unauthorised personnel from the ZNPP and the whole territory of Ukraine. Returning the ZNPP to the full control of the competent and legitimate Ukrainian authorities is the only lasting solution to minimise the risk of a nuclear accident with global implications,” the statement also said.

• On Tuesday, September 30, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared information about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently powered by generators.