Russia plans to connect nuclear plant to Crimea, installs air defence

Russian forces occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeast Ukraine are preparing to connect to Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, and are damaging it by reorienting its electricity production, Ukrainian operator Energoatom warned Tuesday. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and was occupied by Russia early in its invasion. Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for attacks on the plant last week. 'The Russian military present at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are implementing the program of (Russian operator) Rosatom aimed at connecting the plant to the Crimean electricity grid,' Energoatom president Petro Kotin told Ukrainian television. 'To do this, you must first damage the power lines of the plant connected to the Ukrainian energy system. From August 7 to 9, the Russians have already damaged three power lines. At the moment, the plant is operating with only one production line, which is an extremely dangerous way of working,' he added. 'When the last production line is disconnected, the plant will be powered by generators running on diesel. Everything will then depend on their reliability and fuel stocks,' Kotin warned. Located not far from the Crimean peninsula, the plant has six of Ukraine's 15 reactors, capable of supplying power for four million homes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday raised the spectre of nuclear disaster after strikes on the plant. And UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that any attack on a nuclear plant would be 'suicidal'. 'I hope that those attacks will end, and at the same time I hope that the IAEA will be able to access the plant,' he said Monday. Recent fighting around the plant has prompted the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to warn of the 'very real risk of a nuclear disaster'. AIR DEFENCE Russian forces have also started installing an air defence system at Europe's largest nuclear power plant in occupied Ukraine Tuesday after shelling triggered safety fears. The Zaporizhzhia plant is currently operating normally and power lines and damaged reactor units have been repaired, Balytskyi said. Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for the attacks. The Ministry of Defence intelligence update also said Russian attacks were continuing in the eastern region of Donetsk. Moscow also accused the United Nations of cancelling an inspection trip that was already planned. He said the Ukrainian authorities informed the IAEA there was damage but that radiation measurements were still at normal levels. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address that the conflict with Russia 'must end with Crimea - with its liberation.' The US State Department on Tuesday announced plans to provide $89 million in funding to help Ukraine address 'urgent humanitarian challenges posed by explosive remnants of war created by Russia's brutal war of aggression,' including landmines, unexploded ordnance, and improvised explosive devices. The plans include deploying around 100 demining teams and supporting a training and equipping project to strengthen the Ukrainian government's demining and explosive disposal capacity.

Russia plans to connect nuclear plant to Crimea, installs air defence

"The Russian military present at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are implementing the program of (Russian operator) Rosatom aimed at connecting the plant to the Crimean electricity grid," Energoatom president Petro Kotin told Ukrainian television.