The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his support for Ukraine, during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky about the Zaporijjia power plant, Monday, September 5, while the last operational reactor of the plant was disconnected of the power grid on Monday. Franceinfo looks back on the highlights of Monday, September 5 on the front of the war in Ukraine.
The last operational reactor of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant disconnected from the network
The last operational reactor of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Zaporijjia, the largest in Europe, has been disconnected from the electricity grid, the Ukrainian state operator announced on Monday. “Reactor number 6 has been shut down and disconnected from the network”wrote Energoatom on Telegraminvolving a fire “which declared itself because of the bombardments” and damaged a power line connecting this unit to the Ukrainian grid.
This reactor was the only one to operate among the six units of this plant. On Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose experts are on site, had already announced the shutdown of reactor number 5, also due to the damage to a power line following a bombardment. . The other four reactors in Zaporizhia have been disconnected for weeks.
Emmanuel Macron spoke with Volodymyr Zelensky about the Zaporizhia power plant
The French president reaffirmed on Monday “the imperative need to preserve safety” nuclear facilities in Ukraine, during an interview with President Volodymyr Zelensky, detailed the Elysée. “He also reaffirmed his determination that Ukrainian sovereignty over the plant be respected”said the presidency. As they had done during from an exchange on August 16the two leaders took stock of the situation at the plant occupied by the Russian forces, whose last operational reactor was disconnected.
During the interview, Emmanuel Macron also “questioned President Zelensky about his military, humanitarian and economic needs”reiterating “France’s full support for Ukraine to be restored to its most fundamental rights, starting with its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”according to the Elysee.
A new aid of 500 million euros for Ukraine
The European Commission and Ukraine on Monday signed an agreement on aid worth 500 million euros which will be devoted to housing and education for displaced people as well as to agriculture in this country at war, announced the European executive. This funding was announced by the European executive on the sidelines of a meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council in which Prime Minister Denys Chmygal participates and falls within the framework of European commitments decided in the spring.
Denys Chmygal met Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic and discussed the “strengthening of sanctions against Russia and the integration of Ukraine into the EU energy market”. He pleaded, on his Telegram account, for “the introduction of a total energy embargo against Russia”. “Ukrainian electricity exports can replace considerable volumes of Russian gas imports”he assured. “To date, the commercial capacity amounts to 300 megawatts while our export capacity is up to 2,000 megawatts”.
A pause for the referendum on the annexation of the south of the country
The Russian occupation administration in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine announced on Monday “to make a break” in the preparations for the referendum on the annexation by Russia of this territory, currently the target of a major Ukrainian counter-offensive, “due to current events”.
kyiv claims successes on this front by striking deep into Russian army logistics in the Kherson region, which has been occupied since March. Moscow, for its part, ensures that it inflicts heavy losses on its opponent. “We were prepared for the vote, we wanted to organize the referendum very soon, but due to the events of the moment, I believe that we will take a break”declared on the antenna of the Russian public television Kirill Stremoussov, deputy head of the regional administration of occupation.