"Russians are against". Ukraine offers local truce near ZNPP for repairs

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed simultaneous repair of power lines to restore power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on both sides. He said this at a press conference on October 8, reports Interfax-Ukraine .

Zaporizhzhia NPP does not generate electricity, but it needs external power supply to cool reactors and spent fuel, and to operate safety systems.

Since September 23, has been powered by backup diesel generators, as all external power lines have been cut.

"There are a lot of requests from Grossi and Macron. Vitkoff has been sending signals to ours. Everyone is asking: what's going on at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, what's happening there, what's the threat, could there be an explosion? It has never happened that the plant has been running on diesel for so long without electricity," Zelensky said .

"What's going on? The lines have been cut on both sides – from the territory we control and from the territory we temporarily do not control. Who broke them from the very beginning? By the Russians. They broke them when they were capturing it," the president said .

He emphasized that Ukraine has repeatedly repaired the line from government-controlled territory, but Russians have been shelling repair crews, and people have been killed as a result.

"We said: if you want to repair on one side, let's repair on the other side as well. And it is fair. On both sides, at the same time. No one should shoot, on both sides. Let's repair it. Who is against it? But the Russians are against it, they do not allow repairs, they shoot," Zelensky said .

• on June 6, 2025, the Russians announced that Rosatom already has a plan for the phased commissioning of ZNPP with connection to the Russian power grid and has already begun to build a floating pumping station for cooling the reactors .