Russia plans to restart Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant despite risks, Greenpeace warns

Russia intends to restart and operate the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which it currently occupies, despite the risks and calls for the status of the plant to be resolved within the framework of peace negotiations.

Source: Greenpeace in a new report cited by The New York Times

Details: The report includes satellite images which show that since early February, Russia has constructed over 80 km (50 miles) of power lines and pylons between the occupied Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Berdiansk, along the Azov Sea coast. The New York Times has verified the satellite imagery.

Greenpeace said the project aims to connect the new power lines to a large substation near Mariupol which is linked to the ZNPP.

"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, said in an interview.

The New York Times notes that Moscow's exact plans remain unclear. Experts say Russia will need to construct several additional lines to connect the Zaporizhzhia power plant to its own grid, a process that will take time.

Background

• The construction of power lines from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to other temporarily occupied territories is ongoing. A new power line has been detected in the Mariupol district of Donetsk Oblast.
• Petro Andriushchenko, a former adviser to the legitimate mayor of Mariupol, has reported that between February and May 2025, a distribution hub and compressor station for electric power transmission were constructed in one section. 
• In another section, the connection to the grid has been completed.

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