The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has said the Ukrainian nuclear plant surrounded by Russian troops has lost external power needed for its vital safety systems.
The recently restored power line supplying the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been cut for the second time in five days, forcing the plant to switch to emergency diesel generators, the U.N. atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday.
"Our team at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant informed me this morning that the plant has lost all of its external powerfor the 2nd time in five days," Grossi said on Twitter, renewing his call for a protection zone around the plant to prevent shelling near the facility.
A safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Russian-controlled Ukraine is not possible until the front moves forward by at least 100 km (62 miles), the Russian-installed leader of the region said on Wednesday, RIA reported.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been pushing for a demilitarised security zone around the plant, Europe's largest, which remains close to the frontline between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
Russia's onslaught continued in the Zaporizhzhia region and eponymous city on Wednesday, shattering windows and blowing out doors in residential buildings, municipal council secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, though Mr Kurtev warned locals of the possibility of a follow-up attack.
Zaporizhzhia, which sits fairly near the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces, has been repeatedly struck with often deadly attacks in recent weeks.
It is part of a larger region, including the nuclear power plant now in Russian control, that Moscow has said it has annexed in violation of international law. The city itself remains in Ukrainian hands.
At the start of October, the plant became the scene of a suspected kidnapping as the head of the facility was allegedly bundled into a car and driven away.
Ihor Murashov, the director general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility in Enerhodar, was blindfolded and driven to an unknown location for questioning, according to eyewitness reports.
The arrest has raised fears over the security of the nuclear power plant in the occupied south-east of the country.
Murashov was said to be on his way from the facility to the town of Enerhodar in the occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast region when he was detained at around 4pm on Friday.
Al Jazeera reported Petro Kotin, head of state-owned firm Energoatom, as accusing Russia of jeopardising the nuclear power plant's safety.
“He was taken out of the car and with his eyes blindfolded he was driven in an unknown direction,” Kotin said in a statement.
“His detention by [Russia] jeopardises the safety of Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.”
Russia did not comment on the arrest and there has been no indication of Murashov's fate.
Kotin appealed to the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, to take “all possible immediate actions to urgently free” Murashov.
The IAEA said Musharov had been “temporarily detained to answer questions”, according to Russian authorities.
The UN said that it was “seeking clarifications” to resolve the matter “in line with its nuclear safety mandate”.
The Zaporizhzhia plant was shelled earlier in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with both sides accusing each other of risking nuclear disaster.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the surrounding area to be demilitarised, with the site still staffed by Ukrainians despite the region being under Russian control.
Murashov has opposed allowing Rosatom – Russia's state-run nuclear energy company – to take over the Zaporizhzhia plant.
As director general, Murashov reportedly had access to security codes and oversaw day-to-day protocols.
