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Ukraine Objects to Russian Plans for Zaporizhzhia
May 2025
Ukraine objected to Russian plans to restart several of the reactor units at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the suggestion that the United States take control of Ukraine’s nuclear energy sector.
Russia attacked the Zaporizhzhia plant in violation of international law during the early days of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and continues to illegally occupy the facility.
Currently, the six reactor units at the complex are in cold shutdown, reducing the risk of a meltdown and radiation release, but Russia is considering what steps would be necessary to restart the reactors and generate electricity.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, told reporters during a March 20 press conference in Norway that the plant “won’t work unless it is under Ukrainian control.”
In a March 25 statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the transfer of the facility back to Ukraine or to “any other country is impossible.”
Yuriy Chernichuk, the director of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, told Strana Rosatom April 2 that the “most realistic option” would be to restart units 2 and 6 because they are loaded with Russian-made fuel.
Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s nuclear energy company, Energoatom, said in an April 6 interview with The Guardian that there are major challenges to bringing Zaporizhzhia back online and only Ukraine can safely operate the plant.
Chernichuk acknowledged that the work to inspect and repair the units will be “complex.” He did not provide a timeline for restarting the reactor, but suggested that Russia will not move forward until there is an “end of hostilities” around the Zaporizhzhia complex.
During a March 19 phone call with Zelenskyy, Trump raised the prospect of the United States taking over Zaporizhzhia and Ukraine’s other nuclear power plants, likely as part of Trump’s efforts to recoup some of the money that the United States spent supporting the Ukrainian war effort.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said U.S. ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear industry would provide the “best protection” and “support Ukraine’s energy needs.”
Zelenskyy said March 20 in Oslo that the nuclear power plants “belong to the people of Ukraine” but suggested U.S. investment in the Zaporizhzhia complex might be possible.—KELSEY DAVENPORT