The International Atomic Energy Agency said an eighth localized ceasefire it facilitated between Ukraine and Russia began on Thursday morning, allowing repair of a backup transformer damaged by military activity near the Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant. The repair strengthens the connection between the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the Ferosplavna-1 330 kilovolt line, which is now the plant’s sole remaining external power line.
The plant’s other external line, the Dniprovska 750 kilovolt line, remains unavailable despite repairs completed in June under an earlier IAEA brokered ceasefire, because of later damage to the line and to its associated substation. Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said restoring that line would significantly enhance nuclear safety and reduce dependence on limited diesel fuel stocks.
Diesel is the binding constraint. The IAEA said no diesel deliveries have reached the plant since March 2026 and that reserves have been running low for months, raising the risk to nuclear safety if off site power is lost again. Grossi called it essential to increase on site diesel volumes before winter, when he said the situation may become acute.
Military activity around Ukraine’s other nuclear sites rose this week. The IAEA reported 134 drones detected near Chornobyl, where a drone came down in a forest about two kilometres from the site on October 9 and started a fire, 121 drones near the South Ukraine plant, and 194 air raid alerts across all sites over the past week.