Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during a speech marking the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster, emphasized the serious threats that have arisen for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) due to the Russian occupation of the city of Enerhodar and the plant itself.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant: security risks and military activities
According to the head of state, Russian military forces have turned the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant into a military facility, using it to shell Ukrainian cities and villages, storing weapons, shells, and military equipment on the plant’s territory, and have mined the perimeter. In addition, Zelensky stressed that the city of Enerhodar is effectively held hostage by the occupiers, and the power plant has already experienced complete power outages fourteen times.
“The Russians have turned our Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant into an object for their war, shelling our cities and villages from there, storing weapons, shells, military equipment at the ZNPP, mining the plant’s perimeter, and effectively holding our city of Enerhodar hostage. The ZNPP has already gone through complete power outages fourteen times.”
The President emphasized that the Russian Federation is an “absolutely irresponsible and in many ways simply foolish force” that needs to be constrained to guarantee global security. He also recalled a recent incident involving a Russian drone attack on the confinement of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which, in his opinion, confirms the impossibility of Russia being a full participant in civilized international relations.
Attack on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and consequences for nuclear safety
On the night of April 26, 1986, a powerful explosion occurred at the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, leading to the destruction of part of the reactor block and the machine hall. Last year, on February 14, 2025, a Russian strike drone with a high-explosive warhead hit the shelter of the destroyed 4th reactor block of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The emergency situation at the plant was fully resolved only on March 7, 2025.
According to the conclusions of IAEA experts, the new safe confinement of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which was damaged during the attack, lost its main safety functions; however, its key structures and monitoring systems remained intact.
It should be noted that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, along with the city of Enerhodar, was occupied by the Russian army in the early days of the full-scale invasion — in February-March 2022. Since then, the power plant has ceased electricity production, and all six reactor units are in a state of cold shutdown.