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What the Zaporizhzhia blackout meant on 25 August 2022
Summary
A look back at the day Ukraine reported its largest nuclear plant fully cut off from the grid, amid a run of attacks and aid announcements.
What did it mean when Ukraine said on 25 August 2022 that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant had been completely disconnected from its power grid? The announcement was among the most serious security developments of that day in the southern campaign.
According to Ukraine, shelling near the Russian-occupied plant caused several fires, and the plant lost its connection to the grid entirely. A local official said security systems at the plant were activated shortly after the power failure.
A plant under occupation
The plant was in territory held by Russian forces, and the shelling took place close to it. The disconnection came in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where the previous day, 24 August 2022, the Russian-appointed head of Mykhailivka, Ivan Sushko, had been killed in a car bombing. Together, the two events showed how much of the fighting was reaching occupied areas of the oblast.
A violent run-up
The blackout followed a deadly day. On 24 August 2022, Ukraine's Independence Day, a Russian rocket attack hit a passenger train at Chaplyne in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. At least 25 people were killed and more than 50 were injured, according to reports at the time. Later accounts put the number of wounded at about 31, but the death toll of at least 25 was consistent.
On 23 August 2022, Ukrainian forces reportedly shelled the administration headquarters of the Donetsk People's Republic in separatist-held Donetsk, killing three people, according to pro-Russian officials.
Foreign support continues
Alongside the fighting, Western backing was being stepped up. On 24 August 2022, the United States announced a security package of nearly $3 billion from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. A day earlier, on 23 August 2022, Slovakia said it would send an additional 30 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles and ammunition to Ukraine.
What the day showed
The pattern across these days was of attacks on civilians and on infrastructure, strikes and killings in occupied territory, and continuing foreign military supplies. The loss of grid connection at Zaporizhzhia, reported together with fires and the activation of security systems, put the nuclear site at the centre of the security picture on 25 August 2022.
