“They still have operating nuclear power plants. What prevents us from responding in kind? Let them think about it”, - said the russian dictator putin, speaking at the Valdai Forum on October 2. He accused Kyiv of striking the Zaporizhzhia NPP occupied by russia, which has been without power for over a week, reports "DW. Glavnoe" Telegram channel.
He called claims that the ZNPP is being shelled from russia “nonsense”.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP as “extreme”. According to him, the emergency diesel generators currently powering the plant “are not designed for this, have never operated in this mode, and for such a long time”. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha stated on October 2 that russia deliberately cut power to the ZNPP to connect it to its own power grid. “Russia’s next step will be even more dangerous: restarting the reactor under occupation conditions — without proper cooling, without a license, without oversight”, - the Ukrainian minister wrote on social media platform X, adding that these actions “increase the risk of nuclear incidents”.
As reported, the IAEA stated that fuel reserves at the occupied ZNPP will last for about 10 days.