Russia reportedly is working to connect its power grid to a seized major Ukrainian nuclear plant despite the risks of doing so under current wartime conditions.
A new Greenpeace report said Moscow is building power lines from its grid to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was taken by Russia early in the war, The New York Times reported.
The plant's location, in southeastern Ukraine where much missile and drone activity continues, has raised fears of a potential nuclear disaster, the Times added.
Experts have warned against attempts to restart the plant under current conditions.
The Times report came a day after President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin "has gone absolutely crazy" for continuing to fire missiles that are killing Ukrainian citizens.
Greenpeace satellite images shared with the Times showed more than 50 miles of electricity lines and pylons between the occupied Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Berdyansk, along the coast of the Azov Sea, the newspaper reported.
The Greenpeace report said Russia intends to link the nuclear plant to a large substation near Mariupol, about 140 miles southeast.
"Putin's plan for restarting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant depends on securing new electricity transmission lines — this is the first physical evidence of those plans," Shaun Burnie, a nuclear specialist at Greenpeace Ukraine, told the Times.
It was uncertain whether Moscow wants to run the plant in a postwar Ukraine or to do so while fighting is still underway. Either way, much more work is needed to build several more lines.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is one of the world's 10 largest and Europe's biggest. Russian forces have occupied it since shortly after Moscow's February 2022 unprovoked invasion.
Russia gradually shut down all six reactors, with the last one closing in 2023.
In March, when U.S. negotiators worked on a proposed partial ceasefire in the 3-year-old war in Ukraine, Trump suggested that the U.S. take control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
However, Russia's Foreign Ministry said the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is a Russian facility, and transferring control of it to Ukraine or any other country is impossible.
The ministry also said that jointly operating the plant was not admissible, as it would be impossible to properly ensure the physical and nuclear safety of the station.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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