KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been off the grid for seven straight days, warning of the potential threat of a “critical” situation.
He said one of the backup diesel generators used to maintain operations had “malfunctioned” and the blackout posed “a threat to everyone.”
It is the longest outage at Zaporizhzhia since Russia invaded and seized the nuclear plant, Europe’s largest.
“It has been seven days now. There has never been anything like this before,” Zelensky said in his daily address, adding: “The situation is critical.”
Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of risking a potentially devastating nuclear disaster by attacking the site and traded blame over the latest blackout.
