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Operations at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine have been fully stopped as a safety measure, Energoatom, the state agency in charge of the plant, has said.
- The plant ceased to operate when the number 6 power unit was switched off on Sunday morning
- One of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world, it has been occupied by Russian forces since the early stages of the war
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the surrounding area to be demilitarised
The plant "is completely stopped" after the agency disconnected the number 6 power unit from the grid at 3:41am local time on Sunday, it said in a statement.
"Preparations are underway for its cooling and transfer to a cold state," the statement said.
Last week, Kyiv called for residents of Russian-occupied areas around the plant, Europe's largest, to evacuate for their own safety.
Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling the nuclear plant, risking a nuclear disaster.
The plant, one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world, has been occupied by Russian forces since the early stages of the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the surrounding area to be demilitarised.
In an earlier video address, Mr Zelenskyy said he had spoken about the nuclear plant with French President Emmanuel Macron, while applauding Ukraine's recent success against Russian troops in the north-eastern part of the country.
Ukraine's armed forces had liberated around 2,000 square kilometres of territory since a counter-offensive against Russia started earlier this month, he said, causing Russians "to run".
The Zaporizhzhia plant, which had been damaged by Russian shelling, was now powered by Ukraine's energy system, Energoatom said.
It added that it had restored a communications line to the power system to operational capacity, allowing operations to be halted.
"A decision was made to shut down power unit No. 6 and transfer it to the safest state — cold shutdown," it said.
It said the risk of further damage to the line "remains high", which would force the plant to be "powered by diesel generators, the duration of which is limited by the technological resource and the amount of available diesel fuel."
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog which has two experts at the plant, had called for a safe zone around the plant to avert a disaster.
Wires/ABC