The occupied Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) once again lost its external power supply and was forced to switch to backup diesel generators, which keep critical safety systems running.
"The plant's external power supply has now been restored," JSC National nuclear energy generating company Energoatom said on Tuesday evening.
As the company noted, this is already the tenth blackout since the beginning of 2026 – an alarming record for Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian occupation for more than four years. Such statistics are unprecedented and indicate a critical state of nuclear safety at the facility.
This latest blackout confirms once again that as long as Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant remains under Russian occupation, the risks to nuclear and radiation safety will not disappear. The only guarantee of the plant's safe operation remains its de-occupation and return to the full control of Ukraine and its sole legitimate operator – Energoatom," the company said.
Currently, Energoatom operates nine power units at the South Ukraine, Rivne, and Khmelnytsky NPPs, with a total capacity of 7,880 MW, all of which are located in territory controlled by Ukraine.
Zaporizhia NPP, with six VVER-1000 power units totalling 6,000 MW, has not generated electricity since September 11 of that year, following its occupation on March 3-4, 2022.
