Russia asks Ukraine to pay for access to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant
Russia has indicated it wants to isolate Ukraine from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant unless Kiev pays Moscow for electricity.
Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energotom said on Thursday that the plant would continue to feed the national power grid.
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“If Ukraine is ready to take over and pay for its energy, then (the plant) will work for Ukraine. If not, (the plant) will work for Russia,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnulin said during a visit. The region on Wednesday, Russian news agencies reported.
On February 24, Russian troops occupied the Zaporizhiya plant after President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation in Ukraine.
His comments came after Russian officials indicated that Moscow wanted to stay in areas under its control in southern Ukraine, such as the Kherson region and large parts of Zaporizhiya.
“Russia does not have the technical capacity to supply power from the Zaporizhiya nuclear power plant to Russia or Crimea,” Energoatm spokesman Leonid Olyanic told AFP.
“It will cost money and time … and in a month or two we will be back in control of Ukraine,” he said.
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“We have a lot of experience working with nuclear power plants, we have companies in Russia who have this experience,” Khusnulin said.
He said there is no doubt that the Zaporizhzhya plant will continue to work.
Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energoatom said on Thursday that the plant would continue to feed the national power grid.
Future lies with Russia
Alynik says Russia does not have the power to cut off Ukraine’s electricity supply, because “Ukraine controls all relevant equipment.”
In 2021, before the conflict began, the plant accounted for one-fifth of Ukraine’s annual electricity generation and about half of the electricity generated at the country’s nuclear power plants.
Khusnulin further hinted that Russia was there to stay.
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“I believe that the future of this region lies in working within a friendly Russian family. That is why I am here to help integrate as much as possible,” he said.
In early March, Russian troops took control of a plant in the town of Enerhoda, which is separated from the regional capital, Zaporizhjia, by the river Dinipro, still under Kiev’s control.
When a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl plant exploded in 1986, there was a risk of a possible nuclear catastrophe in the country.
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Russian officials and Moscow-appointed officials said last week that the Kherson region of Ukraine – which provides a land rein in the Crimean peninsula – would likely become part of Russia.
Launching the Ukraine campaign, Putin assured that Russia would not try to annex the territories of Ukraine.
Russia asks Ukraine to pay for access to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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