Tonight, for the 16th time this year alone, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has lost all external power. Once again, nuclear safety at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP depends on emergency diesel generators, with fuel reserves sufficient for only around two weeks of limited operation.

The sheer recklessness of this situation is staggering. The same country that illegally occupies the plant continues to devastate Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, putting European nuclear safety at serious risk.

Russia has no right to hold an entire continent hostage to the consequences of its occupation. Moscow has turned nuclear safety into another instrument of blackmail, demonstrating a cynical disregard for the risks its actions pose. The Kremlin cannot pretend that the consequences of its actions will somehow remain confined to Ukraine.

We appreciate the continued efforts of @iaeaorg Director General @rafaelmgrossi and his team to safeguard nuclear safety at the plant.

Russia has been and remains the only source of safety risks and power supply problems. This is the Kremlin’s cynicism at its most dangerous: creating nuclear risks while obstructing efforts to address them.

The international response must finally match the scale of the danger. Sanctions against Rosatom are long overdue. A corporation directly involved in the illegal occupation of a nuclear power plant cannot continue enjoying business as usual internationally.

Europe’s nuclear safety cannot remain at the mercy of the country that deliberately put it at risk. The only sustainable solution is the return of the Zaporizhzhia NPP to its rightful owner and operator, Ukraine.