Ukraine-Russia war news latest: Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant loses power again as UN issues warning

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Thursday appealed for a protection zone around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine after another outage there, saying he was “astonished by the complacency” around the issue.

“Each time we are rolling a dice. And if we allow this to continue time after time then one day our luck will run out,” Grossi told the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors.

Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant lost its last external power line early on Thursday after missile strikes across Ukraine overnight.

The plant is now down to emergency diesel generators, a last line of defence to keep cooling reactor fuel and prevent a potentially catastrophic meltdown.

As in previous attacks, Russia and Ukraine blamed each other. Grossi has been trying to get both sides to strike a deal in which they would pledge not to fire at or from the plant and heavy weapons would be removed, diplomats say.

“This is the sixth time, let me say it again sixth time, that ZNPP has lost all off-site power and has had to operate in this emergency mode,” Grossi told the board’s quarterly meeting, according to an IAEA statement.

“Let me remind you, this is the largest nuclear power station in Europe. What are we doing? How can we sit here in this room this morning and allow this to happen? This cannot go on. I am astonished by the complacency.”

He said that everyone must commit to protect the plant’s safety and security.

“And we need to commit now. What we need is action,” he said.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has accused the EU of completely ignoring any talks on the need to carry out an investigation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts.

Russia has repeatedly asked to be allowed to join the investigations into the blasts, which ruptured three of the four pipelines of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas links that connect Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been reconnected to Ukraine‘s energy grid, Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenergo said.

Ukrainian state nuclear energy company Energoatom had said earlier today that power to the Russian-occupied plant was lost during Russian air strikes.

The chief of the Lithuanian military intelligence said Russia has enough resources continue the war in Ukraine for two years.

“The resources which Russia has at the moment would be enough to continue the war at the present intensity for two years”, the chief, Elegijus Paulavicius, told reporters in Vilnius.

“How long Russia is be able to wage the war will also depend on the support for Russia’s military from states, such as Iran, North Korea. But if you look at what Russia has today, such as the strategic reserve, equipment, ammunition, armaments – it can wage it at the present intensity for two years”, he added.

The Kremlin says it doubts the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines could have been carried out without state support, after the New York Times reported that a pro-Ukrainian non-government group might have been responsible for the blasts.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was vital to identify who was behind the attacks which ruptured the multi-billion dollar pipelines last September.

He added that it was incomprehensible that Russia would blow up its own infrastructure.

Russia’s defence ministry says its forces had carried out a “massive retaliatory strike” on Ukrainian infrastructure after what it called a terrorist attack in Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, last week.

Lithuania’s security services claim hackers with links to Russia and China have repeatedly attempted to break into Lithuanian government computers.

“The most active cyber groups that act against Lithuania are connected with Russia and China,” the Baltic nation’s military intelligence and counter-intelligence agencies said in an annual report.

“Their priority remains continuous long-term collection of information related to Lithuanian internal and foreign affairs,” the agencies said.