The Power Within: The Kyiv Independent’s first-ever magazine. Be among the first to get it.

pre-order now
Skip to content
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, as seen on Sept. 11, 2022. (Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Kyiv is planning to submit to the U.N. General Assembly a draft resolution on nuclear safety and the security of Ukraine's nuclear facilities, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X on July 3.

The document will be mainly focused on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power station in Europe which has been under Russian occupation since March 2022, Zelensky said.

Russia's occupation of the plant has led to heightened nuclear safety risks and Ukraine has repeatedly accused Moscow of using the plant as a launching site for drone attacks, presenting a serious security hazard.

Monitoring teams from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been based at the facility on rotation since September 2022, but Russian authorities still deny IAEA inspectors full access to the plant.

Zelensky met Dennis Francis, the President of the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly. The visit in Kyiv marked the first visit to Ukraine by the head of the General Assembly in nearly 30 years.

"I thanked him for supporting the first peace summit and its final communique. One of the practical outcomes of the summit could be a new resolution on nuclear safety and the security of Ukraine's nuclear facilities, particularly the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant," Zelensky said.

Throughout its occupation, the plant has been repeatedly disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid due to Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure.

Energoatom said that the plant has experienced eight complete blackouts and one partial shutdown since the beginning of the full-scale war.

Shelling destroys radiation monitoring station at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, IAEA reports
The loss of the station further limits the Russian-occupied nuclear plant’s external capacity to detect radiation release in an emergency.

News Feed

10:01 PM

Musk denies US threat to cut Starlink over Ukraine minerals deal.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has denied reports that the United States threatened to shut off Starlink in Ukraine unless Kyiv agreed to a minerals deal. Responding to a report by Reuters, Musk called the claim "false" and accused the news agency of lying.
4:48 AM

Trump admits Russia attacked Ukraine.

"Russia attacked, but they shouldn't have let him attack," U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 21, after previously blaming Ukraine for starting the war.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.