Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was cut off from the national grid for about three and a half hours on Friday after what Kyiv said was a Russian strike that severed its last high-voltage transmission line. The loss of external power—confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency—forced the facility to rely on emergency diesel generators for the ninth time since the full-scale invasion began and for the first time since late 2023. The plant’s Russia-installed management and Ukraine’s grid operator, Ukrenerho, said electricity supply was later restored. Even so, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi warned that the situation at Europe’s largest nuclear station remains “extremely precarious,” noting that the six shut-down reactors still need a stable power source to keep cooling systems and other safety equipment running. Earlier the same day, a separate drone offensive underscored the conflict’s widening impact on civilian energy assets inside Russia. Local officials said Ukrainian unmanned aircraft struck a power substation in Sergiyev Posad, about 70 kilometres northeast of the Kremlin, triggering at least four explosions, injuring one person and causing partial blackouts in the district that hosts the UNESCO-listed Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius monastery.