World narrowly avoided nuclear disaster, Zelenskyy warns, as Ukrainian plant remains disconnected from power grid

The world narrowly avoided a radiation disaster after a Russian-controlled nuclear plant was completely disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned. The Zaporizhzhia plant was still not supplying electricity to Ukraine Friday, officials said, though its own power needs were being met by a repaired power line. A day earlier the nuclear plant, Europe's largest, was disconnected from Ukraine's grid for the first time in its 40-year history. Zelenskyy said in a late-night video address Thursday that after the last working line connecting it to Ukraine’s power grid was damaged by Russian shelling, it was only the plant’s safety systems kicking in with backup power that averted catastrophe.

“The world must understand what a threat this is: if the diesel generators hadn’t turned on, if the automation and our staff had not reacted after the blackout, then we would now be forced to overcome the consequences of the radiation accident,” he said. “Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster,” Zelenskyy added. Russia blamed Ukraine for the incident. NBC News has not verified the claims on either side. Ukraine’s state nuclear company, Energoatom, said Friday the plant was still not supplying power for Ukraine although it was being safely powered itself through a repaired line from the country’s power grid. There were no issues with the plant’s machinery or safety systems, it said, and work was ongoing to reconnect two of the plant’s reactors to Ukraine’s power grid.