Ukrainian energy bureau says Russian-occupied nuclear power plant disconnected from power grid

A major Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plant was disconnected from the country's power grid "for the first [time]" in the plant's history, Ukrainian officials said Thursday, another alarm bell in what experts have warned could be an impending nuclear disaster amid the wider Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant—one of the largest nuclear plants in the world, and the largest in Europe—has been the subject of intense conflict between Russian and Ukrainian forces since the former invaded the latter country earlier this year. 

On Thursday, nearby shelling ignited fires which reportedly spread to the plant, officials with the state energy firm Energoatom said in a statement on Telegram. "As a result, the station’s two working power units were disconnected from the network," the bureau said.

"Thus, the actions of the invaders caused a complete disconnection of the ZNPP from the power grid — the first in the history of the plant," it added. 

Experts have been warning of the potential for nuclear disaster at the plant, which generates more than 20 percent of all electricity consumed in Ukraine. 

Earlier this month the leader of International Atomic Energy Agency warned the UN Security Council that the fighting near and over the plant could lead to a "nuclear catastrophe" if the situation continued to deteriorate.