IAEA brokers Ukraine ceasefire to allow nuclear plant repairs

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it has brokered a “localised ceasefire” in Russia’s war on Ukraine around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to allow vital repairs.

The United Nations’ nuclear agency reported that the ceasefire had taken effect on Friday morning. The safety and security of the Zaporizhzhia plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, has been a chief concern amid Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has now run for more than four years.

The front line in the war runs across the eastern Zaporizhia region, leaving it plagued by intense ground fighting, drone bombardment, and artillery exchanges. With concerns remaining high about the possibility of a nuclear accident, the IAEA said technicians from both sides will in the coming days start repairing “war-related damage”.

It is the sixth temporary ceasefire negotiated by Rafael Grossi, director general of the IAEA, since the war began in 2022.

He said Moscow and Kyiv agreed to pause the fighting to allow repairs to the Dniprovska power line for “the sake of nuclear safety”.

The plant was disconnected from the line more than two months ago, leaving it reliant on a single line to supply the electricity needed to cool its six ⁠shutdown reactors. In recent weeks, the plant has repeatedly lost access to that line, forcing the use of emergency diesel generators.

The violence continued right up to the start of the temporary local ceasefire. An overnight drone attack in the Zaporizhia region killed a woman and wounded 16 other people, emergency services said.

Attacks also continued elsewhere across Ukraine.

A Russian drone hit a food production facility near Kyiv, killing four people early on Friday morning, regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said in a post on Telegram. “The enemy attacked a peaceful civilian food industry enterprise,” Kalashnyk said.

On Thursday evening, Russian drone attacks killed a 75-year-old man in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, according to the city’s military administration head, Yaroslav Shanko.

In Konotop city in northeastern Ukraine, three children were wounded in Russian attacks, Mayor Artem Semenikhin wrote on Telegram.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia will strengthen its air defences to stop recent Ukrainian drone attacks.

“Russia has an air defence system. Yes, we must improve it. Yes, we must strengthen it. And we will do so,” he said.