Zelenskyy: ‘Critical’ situation at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned of a "critical" situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which was disconnected from its sole remaining power line a week ago.

In a video address late Tuesday, Zelenskyy said such an outage at the facility under Russian control has "never happened before."

"The situation is critical. Because of Russian shelling, the plant has been cut off from power, disconnected from the electrical grid, and is being supplied with electricity by diesel generators," Zelenskyy said.

He defined the situation as "extraordinary," adding that one generator at the plant has failed and Russian shelling is preventing the repair of power lines.

"And this is a threat to absolutely everyone," Zelenskyy said, calling on the world to not stay silent to the issue.

Zelenskyy said he held a meeting with the military and the Energy Ministry, ordering to "bring the world's full attention to this situation."

The power outage, reported by both Moscow and Kyiv on Sept. 23, is the 10th experienced at the plant since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, as well as the longest taking place during this period.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of triggering the outage at Europe's largest nuclear power plant through attacks nearby. The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday that the facility has eight operating emergency diesel generators, with nine additional units in standby mode.

Since Sept. 1, 2022, IAEA personnel are present at the plant, which has been under Russian control since March 2022.