Both power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant were reconnected to Ukraine’s energy grid after an outage, state-owned operator Energoatom said in a statement.
(Bloomberg) — Both power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant were reconnected to Ukraine’s energy grid after an outage, state-owned operator Energoatom said in a statement.
The first unit was brought back online at around 2 p.m., and the second was restored around 9:15 p.m. The plant is working “despite provocations by occupying Russian forces,” the company said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been calling for Russian troops in the area around the plant, in southeastern Ukraine, to withdraw. On Friday afternoon, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed concern about the situation.
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Key Developments
- Zelenskiy Reinforces Nuclear Warning After Power-Line Disruption
- Russian Gas Flows to Europe Are at Stable Levels on Friday
- Germany to Rethink Gas Levy After Outcry Over Energy Profits
- Why Ukraine Debt Relief Isn’t Matching Funding Needs: QuickTake
- A Corner of Europe Leans to Live With Power Blackouts Again
On the Ground
Russian forces kept up attempts to conduct an offensive on the Donetsk axis in eastern Ukraine, focusing efforts on areas around Bakhmut and Avdiivka, according to a statement by Ukraine’s General Staff on Facebook. Artillery strikes hit private residences, schools and farms in regions including Donetsk, Chernihiv and Kharkiv, Interfax-Ukraine reported, citing local officials. Seven Russian ammunition depots in southern Ukraine were destroyed this week, said Natalia Humenyuk, a Ukrainian military spokeswoman.
(All times CET)
Russian Corporate Profits Rise 25% (3:00 p.m.)
Profits jumped to 9.5 trillion rubles ($144 billion at the average rate for the period), with the year-on-year increase outpacing the 17% rise in consumer prices over the period, according to Sberbank CIB calculations based on data from the Federal Statistics Service.
The net income gain came despite sweeping US and European sanctions imposed over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine pushed the economy into recession.
Ukraine Evacuated More Than One Million Donetsk Residents (12:20 a.m.)
Almost three quarters of the population in the Donetsk region have been evacuated, the area’s head Pavlo Kyrylenko said on the regional administration’s You Tube channel. Ukraine controls approximately 45% of the Donetsk region, where about 350,000 residents currently live, Kyrylenko said.
“As of February 24, 1.6 million people lived in the part of the region that was controlled by the Ukrainian authorities,” Kyrylenko said. “Almost three quarters of the region’s population have been evacuated.” Kyrylenko said, adding that all the cities of the region are being shelled permanently.
Hungary Boosts Energy Links with Russia Despite EU Stance (10:55 a.m.)
Hungary issued a key permit for the Russian-led expansion of its sole nuclear power plant, bolstering the nation’s energy links with Moscow even as European Union peers seek to distance themselves over the invasion of Ukraine.
The National Atomic Energy Agency issued an “establishment permit” to build a fifth and sixth nuclear reactor in the city of Paks, next to four existing units whose lifetimes are expiring, according to a statement on the authority’s website. Russia’s state-owned Rosatom Corp. is the lead constructor. In May, Finland scrapped a construction contract with Rosatom.
Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Is Working to Avert Nuclear Accident (9:33 a.m.)
Ukrainian authorities are doing everything possible to prevent an emergency at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has stopped work for the first time after being cut off from the nation’s electricity grid, Zelenskiy said in an address late Thursday.
Zelenskiy called for “tough international pressure” to force occupying Russian forces to withdraw from the plant, which has suffered artillery attacks that both Ukraine and Russia have blamed on each other.
Zelenskiy said he had spoken to US President Joe Biden of the situation and warned that Russia’s actions at the plant risked a nuclear disaster that could affect all of Europe.
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Remains off Ukraine’s Grid (9:00 a.m.)
All power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant remained disconnected from the country’s electric grid as of 9 a.m. local time on Friday, state-owned operator Energoatom said on Telegram.
The nuclear plant is being powered via a restored link from Ukraine’s energy system, and transmission lines leading from the plant have also been repaired. Work is under way to reconnect two power units of the plant back to the grid. There are no concerns about equipment and safety systems at the plant, Energoatom said.
Report Details Russian ‘Filtration System’ for People in Donetsk (8:35 a.m.)
Russia has set up a “filtration system” in occupied areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk region which allegedly violates international law, according to a report from Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab.
Russia and its proxies operate at least 21 facilities in and around the Donetsk region to screen, detain and interrogate people, according to the report based on open-source information and satellite imagery. The system was created weeks before the invasion in February and grew following Russia’s capture of the port city of Mariupol.
Russia dismissed the report. “This is yet another fabrication aimed at discrediting the Russian special military operation,” its embassy in the US said on Telegram. “Russia is committed to observing the international humanitarian law.”
Ukraine Pursues Effort to Ramp Up Food Exports (8:30 a.m.)
Ukraine has received more than 60 requests for loading grain and agricultural products in the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative signed almost a month ago between Ukraine, the UN, Turkey and Russia, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter.
European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said earlier that they will continue to help boost exports from Ukraine.
Japan Looking to Reopen Kyiv Embassy, Asahi Says (8:15 a.m.)
Japan is considering reopening its embassy in Kyiv and sending back staff who had been working from other locations such as Poland since soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started, the Asahi newspaper reported, citing government officials.
Japan’s ambassador to Ukraine has been in Kyiv this week looking at resuming operations, the paper said, adding that Japan has been the slowest among Group of Seven nations to bring diplomatic staff back to the Ukrainian capital.
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