Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant loses power, running on emergency generators
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been without off-site power for more than a week and is now relying on diesel generators, the IAEA says, while at least 37 people died in a Russian strike on a munitions depot near Kyiv.
Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been cut off from external electricity for over a week and is running on emergency diesel generators, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Saturday. The plant's six shut-down reactors still require continuous cooling, but only a ten-day diesel supply remains on site.
IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said the availability of diesel fuel becomes critical whenever a plant loses off-site power, and that the situation underscores why reliable external electricity and secure supply routes matter for nuclear safety. Diesel was delivered from another location on Thursday and Friday. The plant lost its regular power supply following military activity on the northern side of the Dnipro River, and the IAEA is trying to negotiate a local ceasefire to allow repair crews to fix the damaged power lines. Russian forces seized the plant, located in southern Ukraine, in March 2022, and its reactors have remained offline since.
Deadly strike on depot near Kyiv
Ukrainian prosecutors have opened an investigation into why munitions were stored so close to residential areas after a Russian strike on a depot in Myla, in the Bucha district near Kyiv, killed at least 37 people on Friday — the war's deadliest single attack this year. At least 50 residential buildings were damaged, including a care home for elderly and disabled residents, and the strike triggered a large fire and secondary explosions. Regional governor Tymur Tkachenko said 42 more people, including four children, were injured. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the depot, run by the defence forces, held shells, mines, drones and other munitions that should never have been stored there.
Other developments
Russia's defence ministry claimed its forces captured the village of Khrapivshchyna in Sumy region and two villages in Donetsk region. A Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's Belgorod region killed three people and injured nine, local officials said. Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Bild he saw no evidence Russia would risk attacking a Nato country. Germany is reportedly preparing to blame Russia for an attempted drone attack on Leipzig airport and impose new sanctions. The UN says it has verified at least 16,874 civilian deaths, including 820 children, since the war began.
