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ABC News

Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missiles hit close to nuclear reactors: IAEA director

PHOTO: Overview of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and fires, in the Enerhodar region of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Aug. 24, 2022.
4:15
European Union, Copernicus Senti/via Reuters
Will Russia become a pariah state?
By Morgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: August 28, 2022, 4:31 PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

For previous coverage, please click here.

Latest headlines:

  • Russian missiles hit close to nuclear reactors: IAEA director
  • IAEA hopes to go to Zaporizhzhia plant 'hopefully in the next few days'
  • Zaporizhzhia '1 step away' from emergency radiation: Ukraine nuclear agency head
  • All reactors at power plant shut down for 1st time in history
  • Biden, Zelenskyy discuss weapons assistance, nuclear plant during phone call
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Aug 28, 2022 4:31 PM

Russian missiles hit close to nuclear reactors: IAEA director

The shelling by Russia in recent days around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine landed close to two of the facility's nuclear reactor buildings, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the IAEA, said Sunday that Russian rockets hit two "special buildings" about 100 meters, or less than 330 feet, from the nuclear reactor buildings.

Citing a report from Ukrainian officials, Grossi said the buildings hit in the attack house the facility's water treatment plants, equipment repair shops or waste management facilities.

Grossi said there was damage to some water pipelines at the site but they have since been repaired. He said measurements of radioactivity were within normal range and there was no indication of any hydrogen leakage.

He said the nuclear plant, the largest in Europe, continues to access electricity from an off-site source after the plant temporarily lost connection to its last remaining operational 750 kilovolt external power line on Thursday.

Two reactor units that were disconnected from the electricity grid when power was cut to the plant on Thursday have been re-connected, Grossi said. The other four reactor units that were disconnected before Thursday remained shut down on Sunday.

He said the latest shelling once again underlines the risk of a potential nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is under the control of Russian forces but being operated by Ukrainian staff.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou


Aug 26, 2022 7:28 PM

IAEA hopes to go to Zaporizhzhia plant 'hopefully in the next few days'

International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said he’s engaged in active consultations with all parties to lead and organize an IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "hopefully in the next few days.” Grossi said in a statement that Thursday’s sudden loss of external power showed that IAEA's presence is urgently needed.

-ABC News' Alex Faul


Aug 26, 2022 2:00 PM

Zaporizhzhia '1 step away' from emergency radiation: Ukraine nuclear agency head

The head of Ukraine’s nuclear agency, Petro Kotin, called Thursday’s disconnection of power lines at Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, a "very serious deterioration… due to Russian shelling on the side of Nikopol on the side of the Dnipro river."

The diesel generator operators were able to kick in during the disconnection, Kotin told ABC News on Friday.

Asked what’s the likelihood this would happen again, Kotin said, "This is one step from the emergency radiation, actually. Diesel is just the last defense, if you actually lose the diesel stuff, you already have radiation, and it's out of the territory of the plant."

PHOTO: People receive iodine-containing tablets at a distribution point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Aug. 26, 2022.
Andriy Andriyenko/AP
People receive iodine-containing tablets at a distribution point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Aug. 26, 2022.
Andriy Andriyenko/AP
PHOTO: People receive iodine-containing tablets at a distribution point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Aug. 26, 2022.
Andriy Andriyenko/AP
People receive iodine-containing tablets at a distribution point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Aug. 26, 2022.
Andriy Andriyenko/AP

He said there'd be 10 days of idle time before a meltdown if the diesel generators are working. If all diesel generators are down, it could be 1.5 hours.

Inspectors could gain access to the site in as soon as five days, he said.

For Russia, the Zaporizhzhia plant is a strategic stronghold as it seeks to control the ground pathway from occupied Donetsk to Crimea and onto Odesa.

Zaporizhzhia supplies Ukraine with around 20% of its energy.

Kotin reiterated that Russia intends to switch power to Russian-controlled areas.

-ABC News' Britt Clennett, Dada Jovanovic and Yuri Zalizniak



Aug 25, 2022 8:27 PM

All reactors at power plant shut down for 1st time in history

All of the reactors at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where shelling has been ongoing, have been shut down for the first time in the plant’s history, Ukraine's state nuclear regulator Energoatom reported.

PHOTO: Overview of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and fires, in the Enerhodar region of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Aug. 24, 2022.
European Union, Copernicus Senti/via Reuters
Overview of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and fires, in the Enerhodar region of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Aug. 24, 2022.
European Union, Copernicus Senti/via Reuters

Zaporizhzhia -- the largest nuclear power plant in Europe -- has six reactors, two of which are active, according to Ukraine's state nuclear regulator, Energoatom. At 12:12 p.m. local time, the last operating line providing power to the plant was disconnected due to hostilities in the area, and as a result all six reactors were disconnected from the grid for 17 minutes, Energoatom said.

At 12:29 p.m. local time the overhead line was restored and reactors Nos. 5 and 6 start operating again.

At 2:14 p.m. local time, the overhead line was disconnected again, shutting down reactor No. 6 and leaving only reactor No. 5 operating. Work is underway to reconnect No. 6 to the grid.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the temporary shut down further shows "the urgent need for an IAEA expert mission to travel to the facility."

PHOTO: In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Aug. 7, 2022, a general view of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine.
Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, FILE
In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Aug. 7, 2022, a general view of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine.
Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, FILE

If external power is lost there's not active circulation of the water that cools the reactor and that could lead to a reactor meltdown. However, the plant "remained connected to a 330 kV line from the nearby thermal power facility that can provide back-up electricity if needed," the IAEA said in a statement. "As a result of the cuts in the 750 kV power line, the ZNPP’s two operating reactor units were disconnected from the electricity grid and their emergency protection systems were triggered, while all safety systems remained operational."

"There was no information immediately available on the direct cause of the power cuts," the IAEA said. "The six-reactor ZNPP normally has four external power lines, but three of them were lost earlier during the conflict. The IAEA remains in close contact with Ukraine and will provide updated information as soon as it becomes available."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Thursday, "The world must understand what a threat this is: If the diesel generators hadn’t turned on, if the automation and our staff of the plant had not reacted after the blackout, then we would already be forced to overcome the consequences of the radiation accident. Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster."

He called on the IAEA and other international organizations to act faster, "because every minute the Russian troops stay at the nuclear power plant is a risk of a global radiation disaster."

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou, Fidel Pavlenko and Natalia Shumskaia


Jul 29, 2022 6:53 PM

Blinken speaks with Lavrov, pushes him to accept 'substantial proposal' from US

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday. Blinken said he pushed Lavrov to accept the "substantial proposal" the U.S. put forth to free detained Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.

PHOTO: Paul Whelan is escorted for a hearing to decide to extend his detention at the Lefortovo Court in Moscow, Oct. 24, 2019; Brittney Griner arrives to a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on July 1, 2022.
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty, FILE|Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
Paul Whelan is escorted for a hearing to decide to extend his detention at the Lefortovo Court in Moscow, Oct. 24, 2019; Brittney Griner arrives to a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on July 1, 2022.
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty, FILE|Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images

This marked the first time the two leaders spoke since the war began.

Blinken called it "a frank and direct conversation."

"I pressed the Kremlin to accept the substantial proposal that we put forth on the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner,” he said. "I'm not going to characterize his responses and I can't give you an assessment of whether I think things are more or less likely."

PHOTO: Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on July 29, 2022.
Tom Brenner/Pool via AP
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on July 29, 2022.
Tom Brenner/Pool via AP

On Russia's stated plans to annex parts of Ukraine, Blinken said he told Lavrov that "those plans will never be accepted. The world will not recognize annexations. We will pose additional significant costs on Russia if it moves forward with its plans."

Blinken did reaffirm that their call did not cover brokering peace in Ukraine.

"Unfortunately, tragically, we've seen no opening--willingness on the part of Russia to engage meaningfully on ending the aggression," Blinken lamented. "At the same time, I've also said that if there are issues where we could make a difference in senior Russians hearing directly from me or from colleagues, we would of course, pursue that."

PHOTO: Smoke rises from the rubble of a building destroyed by a Russian rocket, in Kramatorsk, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on July 29, 2022.
Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images
Smoke rises from the rubble of a building destroyed by a Russian rocket, in Kramatorsk, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on July 29, 2022.
Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the conversation and said it was initiated by the U.S.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said, "Regarding the possible exchange of imprisoned citizens of Russia and the United States, the Russian side is urged to return to the mode of professional, without speculative information stuffing, dialogue in the mode of 'quiet diplomacy.'"

White House spokesperson John Kirby said Friday, "We very much tried to keep details of the negotiations of this nature as private as possible so that we can allow as much space for negotiators to come to a successful conclusion. We felt that in the context of what was happening in both Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan's cases, as well as what was not happening, that it was important to lay out publicly that there was, in fact, a serious offer made by the American side that has not been acted on."

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Molly Nagle


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