Zaporizhzhia

Technicians at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant demonstrate the process for reactivating one of the facility's Soviet-era reactors.

World News

Ukraine strains to safely operate nuclear power plants while under Russian invasion

5:00am September 06, 2023

by Brian Mann

Russia has occupied the massive Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which sits roughly 50 miles from the front lines. Ukraine's other reactors are also operating in a volatile war zone.

Yuriy Kopishynskyi stands with a horse at his family's horseback riding school on Khortytsia, an island on the Dnipro River just outside Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

World News

The Cossacks' traditions live on near the front lines in Ukraine

11:36am August 01, 2023

Zaporizhzhian Cossacks are warriors who have been revered for centuries in Ukraine. A family is maintaining the Cossack traditions by training people with swords, maces and their bare hands.

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Members of the Wagner Group sit atop of a tank in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on Saturday. President Vladimir Putin said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a "stab in the back" and that the group's chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had betrayed Russia. Prigozhin later called off his group's action and the Kremlin said he would go to Belarus.

World News

The week in Ukraine: When Prigozhin turned Wagner's tanks on Russia

3:56pm June 26, 2023

by Alex Leff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

An aerial view of Bakhmut, the site of heavy battles with Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday.

Latest in Ukraine: Putin will move tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus (March 27)

1:58pm March 27, 2023

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, pictured here in October, has operated with emergency power sources six times since Russia's offensive started.

World News

Ukraine's top nuclear plant lost power for the sixth time. Is disaster imminent?

1:37pm March 09, 2023

by Emily Olson

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station was among the Ukrainian structures damaged by a barrage of Russian missiles on Wednesday. Though power has been restored, the threat of nuclear meltdown remains.

People search the rubble of a house following a Russian strike in the village of Velyka Vilshanytsia, near the city of Lviv in Western Ukraine, on Thursday.

World News

Russia hits multiple cities across Ukraine, some with hypersonic missiles

11:01am March 09, 2023

by Joanna Kakissis

Ukrainian officials say at least six people were killed in Lviv and other cities in a Russian bombardment that included advanced Kinzhal missiles, which air defenses can't shoot down.

Yuriy Samoilenko stands for a portrait at the headquarters for Green World, an independent environmental advocacy group and the Ukrainian branch of Friends of the Earth International, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 18.

Ukraine still fears another Chernobyl-size disaster at Europe's largest nuclear plant

6:00am December 11, 2022

by Julian Hayda

International atomic experts have warned of a potential nuclear disaster with Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant in the middle of a war zone, bringing back terrifying memories of Chernobyl.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers work at the scene of a building damaged by shelling in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022.

World News

Russians barrage Ukrainian town after bridge explosion

6:56am October 09, 2022

by The Associated Press

A Russian barrage pounded apartment buildings and other targets in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens, officials said Sunday.

Ukrainian soldiers stand over bags containing the remains of exhumed bodies at a mass grave site in Izium, Ukraine.

World News

Russia-Ukraine war updates: Putin met Xi, mass graves found in Izium (Sept. 19)

4:27pm September 19, 2022

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar on Sunday. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world.

World News

Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactors won't restart until Russians leave, its operator says

5:41pm September 15, 2022

by Kat Lonsdorf

Europe's largest nuclear plant will remain shut down until Russian forces leave, the head of Ukraine's atomic energy agency tells NPR. Under Russian occupation, he says, "staff cannot operate freely."

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