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US asks Russia for demilitarized zone in Zaporizhia

Russia should agree to create a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said today.

Jean-Pierre also told reporters that President Joe Biden today reiterated the country’s support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion in a phone call with his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky earlier.

Electricity has been restored to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant

At the same time, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) informed that the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which is under Russian occupation and has been the target of repeated bombings, is back in operation after earlier being “completely disconnected” from the power grid due to damage to the power lines, announced the Ukrainian company Energoatom.

“The plant’s two operating reactors were disconnected from the grid. Therefore, the attackers’ actions caused the Zaporizhia NPP to be completely disconnected from the power grid, for the first time in its history,” the state group said in a Telegram post. .

According to the Ukrainian company, fires in the area of ​​the Zaporizhzhya thermal power plant, located near the nuclear power plant, caused the last line connecting the facilities to the power grid to be disconnected twice. “Another three lines were previously destroyed by terrorist attacks” by Russia, he added.

Late in the afternoon, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had been “informed by Ukraine” of this loss of connection. But he clarified that “now the station is operational” as it remains connected to the grid through the neighboring thermal power station which can provide “backup electricity”.

The reactors’ emergency protection systems were activated and all safety systems remained operational, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi assured. “The units remained disconnected from the grid, even after the power line was restored,” he continued, without elaborating on the cause of the power outage.

For weeks, Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for the bombings at the nuclear plant, which has six reactors with a total capacity of 6,000 megawatts. Ukraine also accuses Russia of storing heavy weapons at the station and using it as a base to strike Ukrainian military positions. The Russians deny that they have deployed heavy weaponry at the site, claiming that in Zaporizhia there are only units tasked with securing the station.

Source: Capital

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