Ukraine’s nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia, under siege for weeks, temporarily sustained a “complete disconnection” from the country’s national power grid on Thursday, the state energy operator said.
Energoatom blamed Russia, saying, “The actions of the invaders” had led to the disconnection. It said the power outage was the first in the history of the plant, which is Europe’s largest.
But the International Atomic Energy Agency said Ukraine later informed it that power had been restored through a nearby thermal power facility. The IAEA said there was no immediate information on the direct cause of the power outages.
Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for attacks near the Zaporizhzhia facility, even as world leaders have expressed fears that the fighting could result in a catastrophic nuclear disaster on a par with the 1986 disaster at Ukraine's Chernobyl plant. Russia and Ukraine have ignored calls from foreign leaders for the creation of a demilitarized zone around the site.
Energoatom said the Zaporizhzhia facility was disconnected from Ukraine's national supply system after fires at ash pits in an adjacent thermal power plant damaged power lines linked to the grid. Three other power lines "were earlier damaged during terrorist attacks" by Russian forces, Energoatom said.
The utility said that with the damage, two of the plant's six reactors still functioning "were disconnected from the network," although it is trying to reconnect one of the reactors to the network.
The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said security systems at the plant were activated after the power failure.
"Emergency services immediately went to the place. Specialists promptly carried out work to restore the power supply," Alexander Volga, head of the Russian-installed regional administration, said according to the news agency.
Russian officials blamed shelling by Ukrainian troops for the fires, RIA reported.
Meanwhile, Ukraine says the death toll from a Russian rocket attack Wednesday on a train station in Chaplyne has risen to 25, including two children.
The blast, occurring as Ukraine observed its Independence Day and at the six-month mark of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, also injured at least 31 people, many of them seriously, authorities said.
"There are craniocerebral injuries, limb fractures, many patients with explosive and shrapnel injuries, burns," regional health official Tetyana Kvitnytska said. "People were in a difficult condition, both physically and psychologically."
She said that three of the four children being treated are in serious condition.
Russia's Defense Ministry deflected concern for the casualties, saying it launched an Iskander missile in the attack to hit what it described as a military train transporting Ukrainian troops and equipment to the front line in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow claimed more than 200 reservists "were destroyed on their way to the combat zone."
Ukraine did not characterize the identity of the 25 people killed, except to say the two children were 6 and 11 years old.
In Geneva on Thursday, Michelle Bachelet, the outgoing United Nations human rights chief, described Russia's continuing attacks on Ukraine as "unimaginably horrifying." She called on Russian President Vladimir Putin "to halt armed attacks against Ukraine."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned ahead of time that Moscow might attempt "something particularly cruel" this week as Ukraine marked both its 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union and the half-year point of Russia's invasion.
In Moscow, Dmitry Medvedev, secretary of Russia's Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, dismissed Western hopes for a Ukrainian victory as futile, even as the United States and its Western allies continue to ship more weaponry to the Kyiv government.
Medvedev emphasized that Russia would press what it calls its "special military operation," leading to two possible outcomes.
"One is reaching all goals of the special military operation and Kyiv's recognition of this outcome," Medvedev said on his messaging app channel. "The second is a military coup in Ukraine followed by the recognition of results of the special operation."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted, "Russia's missile strike on a train station full of civilians in Ukraine fits a pattern of atrocities. We will continue, together with partners from around the world, to stand with Ukraine and seek accountability."
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday praised the "extraordinary courage and dedication to freedom" of the Ukrainian people in fending off Russian fighters, while announcing nearly $3 billion in new military aid.
He said Ukraine's Independence Day was "not only a celebration of the past but a resounding affirmation that Ukraine proudly remains — and will remain — a sovereign and independent nation."
Biden said the new tranche of military assistance was designed to help Ukraine defend itself over the long term, with U.S. officials saying some of the weaponry might not be used for a year or two. The U.S. leader said the package would include air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and radars.
The new aid comes on top of about $10.6 billion in military assistance the U.S. has already sent to Ukraine in the last year-and-a-half.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
