Crucial power supplies to Europe’s largest nuclear plant in Ukraine were cut off for the first time in its history amid ongoing fears of a catastrophic accident.

The last regular line supplying electricity to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia plant was cut after fires broke out in the ash pits of a coal power station nearby.

The United Nations said the outage underlined the potential peril posed by nearby fighting.

Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom said lines linking the plant to Ukraine’s power grid were disrupted.

“As a result, the station’s two working power units were disconnected from the network,” Energoatom said in a statement.

“Thus, the actions of the invaders caused a complete disconnection…, the first in the history of the plant.”

The last electricity supply to the plant was restored later on Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based United Nations nuclear watchdog, said in a statement.

It comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to bolster his country’s army with another 137,000 service personnel.

Western officials say 70-80,000 troops have been killed or wounded over the past six months.

The country has been on a recruitment drive with reports of prisoners being enticed with promises of freedom and money.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February, captured the Zaporizhzhia plant in March and has controlled it since, although Ukrainian technicians from Energoatom still operate it.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling the site, fuelling fears of the potential for a nuclear disaster.

Nuclear experts have warned of the risk of damage to the plant’s spent nuclear fuel pools or its reactors.

Cuts in power needed to cool the pools to avoid a disastrous meltdown are another worry.

The UN is seeking access to the plant and has called for the area to be demilitarised.

IAEA officials are “very, very close” to being able to visit Zaporizhzhia, agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said on Thursday.

As the war entered its seventh month, Russia said its forces had struck a railway station in eastern Ukraine the previous day, confirming an attack which Ukraine says also hit a residential area and killed 25 civilians as the country marked its independence day.

The Russian Defence Ministry said an Iskander missile had hit a military train at Chaplyne station that had been set to deliver arms to Ukrainian forces on frontlines in the eastern Donbas region.

Ukrainian officials said 21 people were killed when the railway station was hit and five train carriages went up in flames, and a boy died when a missile struck his home in the vicinity.

The death toll rose to 25 on Thursday after three more bodies were retrieved from rubble, they said.

The Russian ministry said 200 Ukrainian military personnel had died in the attack.

Russia denies targeting civilians and has said rail infrastructure is a legitimate target since it serves to supply Ukraine with foreign weapons.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports.

But the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine said she was shocked by the attack and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it “fits a pattern of atrocities”.

The fighting in the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station has been a source of concern for weeks.

The sprawling complex supplied more than 20 per cent of Ukraine’s electricity needs and its loss would pile new strain on the government.

Energoatom said earlier the plant’s security systems were working normally and work was underway to reconnect one of the reactor blocks to the grid, it said.

The power plant has six reactors in total.

Russia’s Novosti news agency reported safety systems at Zaporizhzhia were activated on Thursday after power cuts were reported across swathes of Russian-controlled territory.

Ukraine’s energy minister said IAEA officials could travel to the Zaporizhzhia plant in the coming days.

“A visit is planned,” German Galushchenko told Reuters in Kyiv.
“Definitely no later than the beginning of September.”