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Russia is building a new electricity transmission line to connect Europe’s largest nuclear power plant up to Russia’s power grid, Greenpeace experts in Ukraine have said, casting further doubt on the future of the facility that proved one of the thorniest issues in now-stalled peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
Satellite imagery shows the electricity transmission line sits close to a road known as the “highway of death,” and links the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and the village of Henichesk—in nearby Kherson—the nonprofit said in a report released on Tuesday.
The “highway of death” is a nickname for the M18 highway, and refers to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian vehicles along the main corridor linking the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed in 2014, which has since been used to mount attacks on mainland Ukraine.
The new power line is “critical” for hooking the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) up to Russia’s power grid and to swathes of Russian-held Ukraine, indicating Moscow intends to permanently maintain its grip on the site, Greenpeace said.
But Ukrainian drone attacks in recent weeks have tripped up the construction, the nonprofit said.
Russian troops seized the ZNPP shortly after the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor from late February 2022.
Ukrainian operators still man the site, which has remained close to the front line in the south.
International experts and officials have frequently raised concerns about the risk of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia plant because of continued strikes near the site, with any fallout potentially spreading far beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Russia and Ukraine have consistently blamed one another for endangering the facility, which is still connected to the Ukrainian grid.
Although it’s not currently operational, the six-reactor plant needs access to off-site power to keep it safe. Earlier this month, the Zaporizhzhia site lost all off-site power for the 22nd time since the start of the full-scale conflict nearly four and a half years ago, according to the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.
Just one off-site power line is still working, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says. Before the start of the war, the plant had 10 of these lines.
Newsweek has emailed the IAEA, Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom and the Ukrainian energy ministry for comment.
To restart any of the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia site, Russia would need to reconnect the facility to the electricity transmission grid line in Kremlin-controlled Ukraine, Greenpeace said on Tuesday.
Russia has said it wants to attach the plant to its own power grid, and will restart at least one reactor when it is able.
By July 1, Russia had built a new transmission line stretching 86 kilometers, as well as towers at two electricity substations, the nonprofit said. Most of the construction work took place between March and April this year.
Satellite imagery suggests Moscow is piecing together a 150kV line, which would allow Russia to transmit electricity from the site to other parts of occupied Ukraine. The power line could also be used to support Russia’s military operations in southern Ukraine.
Russia was close to completing the power line in May, but work was stopped by Ukrainian drone attacks, including when Kyiv targeted an electrical substation in Henichesk earlier this month, Greenpeace said.
The commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, said on July 5 that Kyiv struck 16 electrical substations in Russian-held areas of southern Ukraine in just two days, including the Henichesk substation.
Greenpeace says Russia has already built hundreds of kilometers of power lines between electrical substations in southern Ukraine, including from Melitopol to Mariupol, in the eastern Donetsk region.
Work on the power line between Melitopol and Henichesk stopped between June and July, according to the Greenpeace report.
Both Russia and Ukraine have vied to control the ZNPP under a future ceasefire and eventual peace deal, although U.S.-pushed negotiations ground to a halt as Washington became embroiled in its war against Iran from February this year.
For Ukraine, the plant is vital for generating power for its population, particularly since Russian attacks have homed in on the country’s energy infrastructure. Before Russian tanks rolled over the border to kick off Moscow’s full-scale invasion, it’s estimated the ZNPP was responsible for generating more than a fifth of Ukraine’s energy.
Much like Ukraine, Russia could benefit from the significant energy the site is capable of generating. If the Kremlin ties the ZNPP to the Russian grid, it could increase Russia’s nuclear generation by over 15 percent, boosting its national electricity output by roughly three percent, Greenpeace says.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Frances Mao and Tony Phillips
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