The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that most nuclear reactors under the control of Ukrainian authorities have reduced their production following the massive attack by Russia.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed this Sunday that most of the nuclear reactors under the control of the Ukrainian authorities reduced their production, following the massive attack by Russia on Saturday night on the country’s energy infrastructure.
According to a statement from the general director of the international organization, Rafael Mariano Grossi, only two of the nine reactors are producing electricity at full capacity, another six have seen their capacity reduced between 40% and 90% and the ninth is closed for maintenance.
“Nuclear power plants need reliable connections to the grid, both to supply the electricity they produce and to receive external energy to cool the reactors. The increasing fragility of the network has been one of the main challenges to nuclear security throughout the armed conflict,” laments the agency.
Grossi also left an appeal: “At this critical moment, I reiterate the importance of respecting the seven indispensable pillars of nuclear security during conflicts, in particular the fourth pillar, which establishes that there must be a secure supply of energy from the grid for all. . nuclear facilities.”
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed this Sunday a massive attack on military and energy infrastructure in Ukraine, which kyiv had already denounced.
Russia launched a “massive attack” against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Three regions were left without electricity and seven people died
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this Sunday that Russia launched 120 missiles and 90 drones against energy infrastructure in Ukraine, in a large-scale attack.
According to Ukraine’s leader, Russia used several types of drones, including Shaheds, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles. The Ukrainian defense forces shot down 140 air targets, he also stated in a statement on Telegram, cited by Associated Press.
The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in the last three months, according to the head of the kyiv Military Administration, Serhii Popko.
“The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructures throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects caused by impacts and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” he said.
The Ukrainian energy operator DTEK had already announced this Sunday that there had been “emergency power outages” in the kyiv region and in two regions in the east of the country, after a Russian attack on the country’s energy network.
In addition to emergency power outages in the capital region, the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions were affected, the company wrote on the Telegram social network.
Russian attacks have disrupted Ukraine’s energy production capacity since Moscow’s invasion in February 2022, causing repeated emergency power outages and rolling blackouts across the country.
Ukrainian authorities have periodically urged Western allies to bolster the country’s air defenses to counter attacks and allow for repairs.
According to local reports, explosions were heard throughout Ukraine, including the capital kyiv, the major port of Odessa in the south of the country, as well as in the western and central regions.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with the argument of protecting the pro-Russian separatist minorities in the east and “denazifying” the neighboring country, independent since 1991 – after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union – and which has been moving away. of Moscow’s space of influence and get closer to Europe and the West.
The war in Ukraine has already claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides, and recent months have been marked by large-scale airstrikes by Russia against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, while kyiv forces have attacked targets in the nearby Russian border and on the border. Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014.
Already in the third year of the war, the Ukrainian Armed Forces faced a lack of soldiers, weapons and ammunition, despite repeated promises of help from Western allies, which began to materialize.
Negotiations between the two sides have been completely blocked since spring 2022, as Moscow continues to demand that Ukraine accept the annexation of part of its territory and refuse to negotiate while Ukrainian forces control the Russian Kursk region, partially occupied in August.
Source: Observadora
