Power Line Damaged During Shelling of Zaporozhye NPP by Ukrainian Troops - Authorities

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukrainian troops have damaged a power line while shelling the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP) and the plant has been switched to powering its own needs, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional military-civil administration, said.

Late on Friday, Rogov said on Telegram that ZNPP, which is located on the left bank of the Dnieper River and is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of units and output, had been shelled by Ukrainian troops for two hours.

"Three shells landed 400 meters [0.2 miles] east of ZNPP. Another shell landed between the second and third power units. The Dnieper power line was damaged. The nuclear power plant was switched to power supply for its own needs," Rogov said in a later update on Telegram.

Rogov also said that at least two dozen high-speed boats with a large number of armed people had reportedly moved down the Dnieper river from the area of ​​​​the Kakhovka reservoir.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, on Thursday, 60 Ukrainian paratroopers attempted to seize the ZNPP, ahead of the visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission, headed by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. The majority of the Ukrainian soldiers, who arrived in seven boats and landed on the coast of the Kakhovka reservoir, three kilometers (1.8miles) northeast of the ZNPP, were neutralized.

The IAEA mission has recorded facts of shelling the ZNPP without giving any assessment, according to the regional authorities. Grossi is expected to present a report to the agency's board of governors on the Zaporizhzhia NPP early next week.