The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is under the control of Russian troops in southern Ukraine, lost its connection to the Ukrainian power grid due to Russian missile strikethe Ukrainian company Energoatom announced today.

For their part, Russian-appointed officials in the Moscow-held region of Zaporizhia province said the blackout at the nuclear plant was a “provocation”.

“The last line of communication between the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and the Ukrainian power grid was cut due to rocket attacks” by the Russian military, Energoatom noted.

This announcement came at a time when Ukraine is the target of a new wave of Russian missile attacks, which have hit many cities and infrastructure in the country.

“At this moment the station (…) has gone into ‘black out’ status for the sixth time since the occupation,” Energoatom added.

According to the company, the nuclear plant’s fifth and sixth reactors have been shut down, while 18 diesel-powered generators have been activated to ensure the plant’s basic operation.

“There is enough fuel for ten days. The countdown has begun,” he emphasized.

“If the external power supply of the nuclear power plant is not restored, an accident may occur that will affect the whole world,” he stressed.

The Russian military captured the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on March 4, 2022, nine days after the invasion of Ukraine began.

The station, which before the invasion produced 20% of Ukraine’s electricity, continued to operate in the first days after the occupation, despite the shelling. It was shut down in September.

Since then none of the six Soviet-era VVER-1000 reactors have produced electricity, but the station remains connected to Ukraine’s energy system and consumes electricity for its own needs.

Energoatom has previously warned that shutting down the plant would lead to “a gradual collapse of its systems and equipment”.

Four dead in the Lviv region

Meanwhile, the Russian strike killed at least four civilians, two men and two women, in Ukraine’s Lviv region (west) early this morning, an official in the region said, amid new wave of bombings across Ukraine.

A Russian missile fell into a residential area in the Zolotchiv region, destroying three houses, district governor Maxim Kozhitsky said in a post on the Telegram platform.

An investigation into the wreckage is ongoing, as “there may be other people trapped,” Mr. Kozicki added.