On the morning of June 4, a thermal power plant (TPP), whose switchgear helps transmit electricity to the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP (ZNPP), came under heavy shelling.
This was reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The IAEA team recorded smoke from ZNPP site and heard sounds of fighting. The TPP personnel were in shelters.
IAEA stressed that this incident is of particular concern, as ZNPP currently has only one power transmission line. It has been disconnected several times in recent weeks, and the plant has been completely switched to emergency diesel generators.
Despite this attack, the power line remains connected. The IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi expressed “deep concern” and called for an immediate end to the attacks to avoid the risk of a prolonged power outage at the plant and a potential nuclear accident.
Whatʼs happening with the Zaporizhzhia NPP now?
The Russians occupied the Zaporizhzhia NPP in early March 2022 and have been operating under their control since then. An IAEA mission has been at the station since September 2022. Ukraine insists on the withdrawal of the Russian occupiers from the station. Russia refuses to create a demilitarized zone at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
The Zaporizhzhia NPP has repeatedly lost external power supply due to hostilities near the plant. In such cases, it switched to backup diesel generators. The longest was the tenth blackout, which occurred due to Russian shelling and lasted a month — from September 23 to October 23, 2025.
On May 30, “Rosatom” reported that Ukrainian troops allegedly hit the machine room of unit No. 6 of the Zaporizhzhia NPP with a drone, a few meters from the reactor. The South group of troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that they did not hit the power unit.
Among the evidence: Ukraine does not have fiber-optic drones that can reach the station and carry 5-6 kg of explosives. In addition, the Russians have set up a multi-level smoke screen around the station, and the drone would not have been able to fly through it unnoticed.
Following these accusations by Russia, IAEA conducted an inspection of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Experts said that the outer part of the turbine housing and the metal hatch were damaged, and they also found several fragments and burnt remains of an optical cable. But IAEA did not specify who the drone belonged to.
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