Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has again lost connection to its main external powerline, but continues to supply electricity to the grid through a reserve line, the United Nations nuclear watchdog has said.
In a statement posted on its website, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said only one of the station's six reactors remained in operation.
Zaporizhzhia, with six reactors, is Europe's largest nuclear power station.
The station has been controlled by Russian troops since soon after their invasion of Ukraine in late February and has become one of the focal points of the conflict, with each side blaming the other for shelling around the plant.
IAEA experts now stationed at the plant were told by Ukrainian staff that the site's fourth operational 750 kilovolt power line was down after three others were lost earlier.
But IAEA experts also learned that a reserve line linking the facility to a nearby thermal power plant was delivering electricity to the external grid.
This reserve line can also provide backup power to the nuclear power plant if needed, it said.
"One reactor is still operating and producing electricity both for cooling and other essential safety functions at the site and for households, factories and others through the grid," the IAEA said.
An IAEA mission, led by the agency's director general Rafael Grossi, toured the plant on Thursday and some experts have remained there pending the release of a report on its operations.
Transmission lines to the plant were cut last week and the facility was cut off from the national grid for the first time in its history, prompting power cuts in various regions of Ukraine.
But emergency generators kicked in to provide power needed for vital cooling processes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russian shelling for the cut-off and said a radiation leak had narrowly been avoided.
Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had attempted to capture the Zaporizhzhia plant in an attack on the facility on Friday night -- the second such allegation in as many days.
Reuters could not confirm any details of the Russian accusations.
Russia's 'energy weapons'
On Saturday, Mr Zelenskyy called for more European unity to combat Russia's "energy weapons".
Speaking in an evening video message, Mr Zelenskyy said Russia was continuing its efforts to put more pressure on Europe's energy supply, adding that the Nord Stream gas pipeline has already been stopped.
The Ukrainian leader said European unity was one of two solutions that could ease the energy pressures faced by civilians and politicians in the upcoming winter.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany was shut on Wednesday for what Russian gas producer Gazprom said would be three days of maintenance, due to end on Saturday.
On Friday, Gazprom announced it would not be able to restart flows, citing an oil leak in the main gas turbine at the Portovaya compressor station near St Petersburg.
ABC/wires
