The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has completed a blackout — the nineteenth during the entire period of the full-scale war.
IAEA and “Energoatom" write about this.
ZNPP restored external power supply after the “ZaTES-Ferrosplavna No. 1” power transmission line was repaired. The blackout lasted almost three days and became one of the longest at the ZNPP.
On the night of June 10, the Zaporizhzhia NPP lost external power supply after an attack on an electrical substation.
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 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 kilograms 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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