BREAKING NEWS: Ukraine and Russia announce shock ceasefire in bombshell Kremlin move

Russia and Ukraine have reached an agreement for a localised ceasefire so that repairs can be carried out on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.

The IAEA today secured the agreement of both the Russian Federation and Ukraine to implement a localized ceasefire enabling repairs to begin on the last remaining backup power line to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), IAEA director general Rafeal Mariano Grossi confirmed.

Technicians from Ukraine’s electrical grid operator are expected to begin repair work on the 330 kV line – damaged and disconnected as a result of military activity on 2 January – in the coming days. The disconnection has left Europe’s largest NPP dependent on its sole functioning 750 kV main power line, an official IAEA release read.

An IAEA team has departed Vienna to travel to the frontline in order to observe the repair works.

“The IAEA continues to work closely with both sides to ensure nuclear safety at the ZNPP and to prevent a nuclear accident during the conflict. This temporary ceasefire, the fourth we have negotiated, demonstrates the indispensable role that we continue to play”, Grossi said today.

The IAEA team was also able to confirm that winter protection measures are in place to prevent freezing of water in the groundwater wells, which supply cooling water for safety systems that cool the reactors and spent fuel pools. The ZNPP informed the team that the pumps operating in the unit pumping stations of the six shutdown reactors, would continue to work even if ice was to form on the surface of the inlet channel, and that currently no ice had been observed in that area.