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By Shane Croucher
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said electrical substations "vital for nuclear safety" were affected by the massive Russian strike on Ukraine overnight into Tuesday, leading the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to lose all of its off-site power.
Other Ukrainian nuclear power plants were also impacted when their power lines were disrupted, the nuclear watchdog said. Ukraine's energy ministry has since said that Chernobyl's power was restored and there is no direct threat to people.
“The IAEA is actively following developments in order to assess impact on nuclear safety,” Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement. Grossi has repeatedly warned Russia and Ukraine of the severe threats posed to nuclear infrastructure, with incidents involving plants on both sides.
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Russia denied trying to undermine the power supply to Ukrainian nuclear power stations and said it was striking energy targets used to aid Kyiv's forces.
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The latest incident underlines the vast nuclear safety risks in the Ukraine war, with fighting around power stations and strikes on their vital infrastructure that threaten to cause a radiation leak or a reactor meltdown if there is a miscalculation, with potential ramifications for the whole world, as seen in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
According to the World Nuclear Association, Ukraine operates four nuclear power plants with 15 reactors that typically generate about half its electricity.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe's largest, is currently under Russian occupation and not operational. It is the subject of fractious peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of a "reckless" attack that imperiled nuclear safety.
"It is the use of nuclear risk as a tool of coercion," Sybiha said in a post on X.
"Ukraine is intensifying its engagement with the IAEA. We call on the IAEA Board of Governors to react decisively and urgently convene a meeting of the Board of Governors and decide on the matter of Russia’s presence in the Board.
"Our position is that a terrorist state that deliberately creates nuclear safety risks has no place there."
Ukraine’s air force command said that 27 missiles and 315 drones were shot down or jammed, while five missiles and 24 drones hit 11 locations.
The Russian defense ministry said its forces targeted Ukrainian military and industrial installations, as well as energy and transport infrastructure used by Kyiv's armed forces.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, told the state news agency Tass that "strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are carried out in response to Ukrainian attacks on civilian facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation."
"This is done, according to our military department, primarily in order to disrupt the energy supply of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex," Ulyanov said, originally in Russian.
"The Russian Armed Forces are not taking targeted steps to undermine the power supply of nuclear power plants under Kyiv’s control."
The Ukrainian energy ministry said all of Chernobyl's facilities were now being supplied under normal conditions by the country's electricity grid.
"Radiation levels at the industrial site and within the exclusion zone do not exceed control limits. The plant has the necessary fuel reserves and fully operational backup power sources in the event of repeat attacks," the ministry said, originally in Ukrainian.
"There is currently no direct threat to the population or the environment. Energy workers and plant personnel continue to monitor the situation under an enhanced regime."
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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