Greenpeace accuses Russia of ‘unprecedented escalation’ if it restarts Zaporizhzhia reactors

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Initial aspirations by Russia to connect the reactors to its own energy grid were abandoned. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Greenpeace has accused Russia of threatening Ukraine and the west with “an unprecedented escalation” if Moscow tries to restart reactors at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.

The pressure group’s warning came a day after Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), met the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in Sochi to discuss nuclear safety and the plant on the frontline of the Ukraine war.