Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) lost all external power for the fourteenth and fifteenth times of the war in the same week around 17-22 April 2026. The main 750 kV Dniprovska line was repaired via an IAEA-mediated local Ceasefire then lost again. Repair crews on the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 backup feeder found additional damage 1.8 kilometres from the switchyard. As of 22 April, one external line was running. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed the IAEA is negotiating a further local Ceasefire for Ferosplavna-1. Russia's state nuclear regulator Rostekhnadzor had issued 10-year operating licences for units 1 and 2 earlier in April, committing to Russian administration through 2036, while the plant was running on a single external cable.

Located on the Dnipro River in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, ZNPP is Europe's largest nuclear facility with six VVER-1000 reactors and a total capacity of 5,700 MW. Russian forces seized the plant in March 2022. All six reactors have been in cold shutdown since September 2022, but spent fuel cooling and containment systems require continuous external power. IAEA observers have been on-site since September 2022. The previous power loss, the thirteenth, occurred on 14 April when the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 backup line disconnected; emergency diesel generators ran for approximately 90 minutes before reconnection. The main 750 kV Dniprovska line had been disconnected since 24 March.

The operational picture has decoupled from the administrative one. Rostekhnadzor's licensing commits Russia to a decade of administration of ZNPP under Russian nuclear law, treating the plant as sovereign Russian territory. No Western government recognises this. The IAEA has repeatedly called for a nuclear safety protection zone that neither Russia nor Ukraine has accepted in full. Two power losses in one week, combined with damage 1.8 km from the switchyard, indicates the infrastructure is degrading faster than ceasefires can repair it.