Elsewhere in Ukraine, the last operational reactor at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine has been shut down.
Energoatom, the state-owned company in charge of the plant, said on Sunday that work at the facility had been “completely stopped” after it disconnected the Number 6 power unit from the grid at 3:41 a.m. (8:41 p.m. ET).
“A decision was made to shut down power unit No 6 and transfer it to the safest state — cold shutdown,” it said on Telegram.
The Zaporizhzhia facility, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, was cut off from the grid last week after all its power lines were disconnected as a result of fighting in the area. It ran on “island mode” for several days, officials said, generating electricity for crucial cooling systems from its only remaining operational reactor.
Energoatom said it restored a communications line to the power system, allowing the plant to be powered by Ukraine’s energy grid long enough to initiate the shutdown.
The company said the shutdown took place because the risk of further damage to the power lines “remains high,” which would disconnect the plant completely from the grid again.
Russia and Ukraine accused each other of damaging power lines at the Zaporizhzhia site with rocket and artillery fire, risking a potential nuclear disaster.
Ukrainian media reported widespread power outages Sunday night in Kharkiv, Poltava, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and other regions. Officials in several regions said Russian forces caused the outages by attacking infrastructure, knocking out electricity and water, with explosions.
Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said the power outage was “revenge by the Russian aggressor for the successes of our army at the front, in particular, in the Kharkiv region.”
Local officials said they were trying to repair the damage, and none of the outages were believed to be related to the shutdown of the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant.
The Associated Press contributed.