Overview

• On July 4, all off-site power lines to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant failed, marking its ninth complete blackout since early 2022.
• The outage triggered a switch to emergency diesel generators to maintain cooling for the six shut-down reactors.
• Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko blamed Russian shelling for severing the final connection to Ukraine’s power grid.
• IAEA chief Rafael Grossi confirmed external power returned after three and a half hours but cautioned that the plant’s safety remains extremely precarious.
• The facility’s proximity to active front lines and disputed integration into Russia’s grid continue to expose its cooling systems to recurring infrastructure attacks.