Russia limiting communications at nuclear facility, watchdog says

Ukrainian personnel continue to operate the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant Ukraine, however, is now under Russian control and some communications outside the plant have been shut down, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Sunday. The plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was taken by Russian forces on Friday after the bombings set fire to one of the training facilities.

According to the IAEA, Russian forces on the site “some mobile networks and the Internet have been disabled so that reliable information about the site cannot be obtained through normal communication channels”. Ukraine also reports that all Ukrainian activity at the plant, “including measures related to the technical operation of the six reactor units,” must now be approved by the Russian commander at the plant.

Russian forces have also taken control of a second nuclear power plant and are approaching a third, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the US Congress on Saturday.

Ambassador of Ukraine to the USA Oksana Markarova said “Face the Nation“On Sunday, the international community should intervene and help Ukraine regain control of nuclear sites from Russia. Markarova noted that the first nuclear power plant confiscated by the Russians was the famous Chernobyl plant, which” is not “but there is still a lot of waste and everything else.”

“The second operation is the largest in Europe. In fact, it put the world on the brink of nuclear disaster,” he added. “And while our firefighters were able to put out the fire again, no one is safe. Ukraine is not safe. Europe is not safe. Because these stations are not supposed to be run by war criminals.”

The plant fire has been extinguished and no damage has been done to any of the reactors. No high levels of radiation were detected after the attack. Russia has denied deliberately bombing the nuclear power plant.

Markarova said on Sunday that Ukraine is “ready for any option” to recover power plants, even suggesting that a no-fly zone be established, which Zelensky has repeatedly called for.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would consider any nation imposing an air exclusion zone part of the war. NATO had previously said that the creation of a no-fly zone could lead to a bigger war in Europe, and Senator Marco Rubio told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that, “basically a zone of “Air exclusion, if people understand what it means, means World War III.”

Despite the ongoing Russian attack, a senior US defense official said on Sunday that the Pentagon believes Ukrainians in most parts of the country still have access to the Internet and most media are still available. The official said that Russia has now engaged about 95% of the forces it had gathered at the border within Ukraine.

Still, there have been few changes on the ground in the past 24 hours, the official said. A Russian military convoy seen in satellite images of Maxar remains stagnant and the “leading elements” are still outside the main city centers, although the exact distances were not given.

The official added that while both sides “have suffered losses in both aircraft and missile defense inventories,” Ukraine and Russia still have “most of their air defense systems and capabilities.”

Margaret Brennan and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.

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• Ukraine
• Russia