Chernobyl NPPMOSCOW, Mar 12Ukrainian technicians have begun repairing damaged power lines to restore the external power supply to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the IAEA said in a statement. On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian troops had attacked the power grid facilities that provide power to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Russian specialists took prompt measures to switch to backup diesel-generator power supplies. Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Pavel Sorokin noted that the Belarusian side promptly worked out the issue of restoring energy supply under a permanent scheme from the Belarusian energy system. Later, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Russian President Vladimir Putin asked him to help restore power supply at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and the Ukrainian side «does not need it.» A nuclear power plant under the control of the Russian military that was completely shut down earlier this week,» the organization said in a statement. According to the statement, Ukrainian specialists have already managed to repair one section, but external power is still cut off, indicating damage to other sections. . It is noted that the repair work will continue, despite the «difficult situation outside the nuclear power plant.» Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» To this end, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine» bloody crimes against civilians» of Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, nothing threatens the civilian population. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But the occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the President of Russia emphasized.
