Only one of six reactors of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is now connected to the power grid, and Russia's main natural gas pipeline to Germany remains shut down
Energy problems plagued Ukraine and Europe as much of the
Russian-occupied region that's home to a largely crippled nuclear power plant
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was reported temporarily in blackout Sunday.
Only
one of six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia facility was connected to the
electricity grid, and Russia's main pipeline carrying natural gas to Germany
remained shut down.
The fighting in Ukraine and related disputes over pipelines
lie behind the electricity and natural gas shortfalls that have worsened as
Russia's war in Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, grinds on for a seventh month.
Both issues will take center stage this week. U.N. nuclear
to brief the Security Council on Tuesday about their inspection and
safeguard visit to the Zaporizhzhia power plant. European Union energy
ministers were slated to hold an emergency meeting Friday in Brussels to
discuss the bloc's electricity market, which European Commission President Ursula
von der Leyen has said "is no longer operating."
Much of the Zaporizhzhia region, including the key city of
Melitopol, lost power Sunday.
Damage to power lines
But electricity was gradually being restored, said Vladimir
Rogov, the head of the Russia-installed local administration in Enerhodar, the
city where the nuclear power plant is located. To the southwest,
powerwas also out in several parts of the port city of Kherson, according to
Russia's Tass news agency. Rogov blamed the outages in both locations on damage
to high-voltage power lines.
While Rogov said no new shelling of the area around the
six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant was reported Sunday, the effects of earlier
strikes lingered.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday that
the plant was disconnected from its last main external power line and one
reactor was disconnected because of grid restrictions. Another reactor was
still operating and producing electricity for cooling and other essential
safety functions at the site, as well as externally for households, factories
and others through a reserve power line, the IAEA said.
Russian forces have held the Zaporizhzhia facility, Europe's
largest nuclear plant, since early March, with its Ukrainian staff continuing
to operate it.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said he will brief the
U.N. Security Council on Tuesday on a mission he led to the plant last week.
The 14-member delegation braved gunfire and artillery blasts to reach the plant
last Thursday after months of negotiations to enable passage through the
fighting's front lines.
Staff’s condition
Without blaming either warring side, Grossi said his big
concerns are the plant's physical integrity, its power supply and the staff's
condition.
Europe's energy picture remained clouded by the war in
Ukraine.
Just hours before Russian energy company Gazprom was due to
resume natural gas deliveries to Germany through a major pipeline after a
three-day stoppage, it announced Friday that it couldn't do so until oil leaks
in turbines are fixed.
That is the latest development in a saga in which Gazprom
has advanced technical problems as the reason for reducing gas flows
through Nord Stream 1 — explanations that German officials have rejected as a
cover for a political power play. Dismissing Gazprom's latest rationale for the
shutdown, Germany's Siemens Energy — which manufactured turbines the pipeline
uses —- said turbine leaks can be fixed while gas continues to flow through the
pipeline.
Von der Leyen blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin's war
against Ukraine for Europe's energy crisis. Before the EU energy ministers'
and natural gas prices should be decoupled and that she supports a price
cap on Russian pipeline gas exported to Europe.
Natural gas is one of the main fuels used in electricity
generation, and is a major source of Russia's income, along with oil exports.
Retaken control
On Ukraine's battlefield, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Sunday, without providing
specifics, that his country's forces had retaken control of two settlements in
Ukraine's south and one in the separatist eastern Donetsk region.
Russian shelling hit the southern Ukraine port city of
Mykolaiv during the night, damaging a medical treatment facility, the city's
mayor said Sunday.
Mykolaiv and its surrounding region have been hit daily for
weeks. On Saturday, a child was killed and five people were wounded in rocket
attacks in the region, Gov. Vitaliy Kim said.
Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych didn't report injuries in
the overnight attack, which he said also damaged residences. Mykolaiv, which is
30 kilometers (20 miles) upstream from the Black Sea on the Southern Bug River,
is a significant port and shipbuilding center.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, Russian shelling
late Saturday set a large wooden restaurant complex on fire, according to the
region's emergency service. One person was killed and two others were wounded
in shelling in the region, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the eastern Donetsk region
where Russian forces have been trying to take full control, said four people
were killed in shelling on Saturday.
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