Statement of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine regarding comments by the russian president on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

In response to the russian president’s statements on 2 September 2025, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine emphasises: russia attacked and occupied Ukraine’s civilian nuclear facility, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), with heavy military equipment, forcibly blocking legitimate Ukrainian regulatory and operational control over the station, which is an integral part of Ukraine’s property.

The station is currently operating under non-design conditions – a regime neither structurally nor procedurally anticipated. The consequences of such operation cannot be adequately assessed due to the ongoing military occupation of this nuclear facility.

Since establishing military control over the ZNPP, the russian federation has caused systemic and critically dangerous disruptions to its technical operations. This includes not only the destruction of the primary water supply for reactor cooling due to the blowing up of the Kakhovka Dam but also multiple disconnections of the station from Ukraine’s power grid, resulting in nine complete blackouts – a direct precursor to a nuclear accident.

The conditions under which the ZNPP has been held in cold shutdown for an extended period, supervised by unidentified third parties and without access for Ukraine’s legitimate operator, are fundamentally incompatible with the basic nuclear safety standards for a facility of this scale.

In this context, the russian president’s public statements on 2 September 2025 about introducing new, undisclosed systems of management and control at the station must be viewed as evidence of an attempt to use the ZNPP as a military tool in the ongoing war against Ukraine.

These actions pose a direct threat to the nuclear safety of the station and, consequently, to Europe. We urge international partners to respond immediately, particularly during the September session of the IAEA General Conference, where these threats must be clearly assessed and recognised at the international level.

The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine considers any attempts by russia to introduce new forms of “management” or “control” at the ZNPP as a deliberate escalation of the nuclear safety threat.

Ukraine calls on the international community to provide a clear assessment of these statements and actions, taking into account their potential impact on the safety of the entire European continent.