A local ceasefire has started at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to repair a 750 kV power transmission line.
This was reported by IAEA.
During the ceasefire, repairs will begin under the supervision of the IAEA experts on the damaged “Dniprovska” power line, which was disconnected more than two months ago. This is due to the fact that the area where the line is located has already been demined.
Currently, due to damage to the “Dniprovska” power line, ZNPP was dependent on only one 330 kV line, which cooled six reactors. In recent weeks, the nuclear power plant has lost external power supply from this line as well, causing ZNPP to operate on emergency diesel generators.
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, 2026, “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 Forces 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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