In Russia, statements were made about cooperating with Ukraine to repair the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Theoretical cooperation between Russia and Ukraine for joint work at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is possible.

This opinion was expressed by Igor Ananskikh, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy. He spoke with journalists about the possibility of the two countries uniting efforts to ensure the stable operation of the facility.

Earlier, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi called on Russia and Ukraine to cooperate on repairs at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which has been cut off from external power supply for more than a week.

“Theoretically, of course, it is possible, but practically I don’t see such an opportunity yet, because we know the situation at Zaporizhzhia NPP is connected with constant shelling from the Ukrainian side and with attempts to create certain problems both for the plant’s personnel and for its technical operation. Therefore, in the future all this could be discussed and become possible, but right now, unfortunately, after all these actions from the Ukrainian side, I don’t see any opportunity for joint work at the plant,” the deputy said.

Before that, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP critical. According to him, the plant has been running on diesel generators for seven days in a row, but “the generators and the plant are not designed for this and have never worked in such a mode for so long.” He also stated that one of the generators had already failed.

The press service of the Zaporizhzhia NPP reported that there are sufficient reserves of diesel fuel to keep the generators operating. It was specified that the external power supply was cut off due to shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.