Satellite imagery has revealed another Russian attempt to connect the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to the power grid of the temporarily occupied territories and Russia's energy system. According to Greenpeace Ukraine, the plan was disrupted by Ukrainian drone strikes.

The international environmental organization Greenpeace Ukraine stated this on its website, according to Ukrinform.

"Satellite imagery has revealed Russia's construction of a new electricity transmission line along the M18 'Highway of Death,' linking Mariupol to Henichesk. The new infrastructure forms a critical part of Moscow's plan to connect the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to the temporarily occupied territories, including Crimea, and the Russian power grid. The project highlights the Kremlin's plans to permanently integrate the occupied plant into Russia's energy system. Greenpeace Ukraine's analysis, however, is that the overall Russian project is increasingly unlikely to succeed and must be stopped to reduce nuclear risks," the statement said.

According to the report, Greenpeace Ukraine's new analysis is based on high-resolution satellite images obtained between January and July 2026. It documents the construction of a new high-voltage power line along the M18 highway between the temporarily occupied city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia region and Henichesk in the temporarily occupied part of Kherson region. Construction of this line, which was intended to be part of Russia's efforts to reconnect the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP to the Russian energy system, was nearly completed in May, but was disrupted by repeated Ukrainian drone strikes, including an attack on a substation in Henichesk in early July.

According to Greenpeace Ukraine, the new power line is intended not only to support Russian military logistics and extractive industries in the temporarily occupied south of Ukraine, but is also a key element of Moscow's long-term plan to transfer electricity from the seized Zaporizhzhia NPP to the temporarily occupied territories, including Crimea, and to southern regions of Russia.

The report also states that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi effectively reinforces Russian narratives by speaking about the possibility of restarting the reactors under Rosatom's management. At the same time, Grossi does not emphasize that Russia's occupation of ZNPP itself is a fundamental violation of international nuclear safety and security principles.

According to Jan Vande Putte, a nuclear energy specialist at Greenpeace Ukraine, since 2022 Russia has used the occupation of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as an instrument of nuclear terror against Europe. Russia has failed in all other objectives and will most likely continue to fail, including in attempts to connect ZNPP to the occupied power grid and restart the reactors.

"This new electricity line from Melitopol will not reverse the direction of travel that increasingly makes Russia's occupation of the ZNPP a doomed project. However, the continuing nuclear safety risks posed by Russia at ZNPP mean that the priority of the international community, including the IAEA, must be to accelerate the end to Russia's occupation of ZNPP through all means, including punitive sanctions," Jan Vande Putte stressed.

According to Greenpeace Ukraine's analysis, Russia's strategic goals regarding ZNPP are to disconnect the plant from Ukraine's power system; restart the plant; supply electricity to industry in temporarily occupied Donbas; support mineral extraction and agriculture in the temporarily occupied territories for export and to finance Russia's war; provide electricity to the temporarily occupied territories and military logistics; and supply electricity to the southern regions of Russia.

Greenpeace Ukraine also stressed that the construction of the new Melitopol–Henichesk power line is only part of a broader Russian plan to maintain long-term occupation of ZNPP and ensure power supply to the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, Donbas, Crimea, and ultimately the energy system of southern Russia.

It is noted that Rosatom views ZNPP as a cheaper alternative to building new nuclear reactors in the Rostov region and Krasnodar Krai. Although Russia's plans for ZNPP are becoming increasingly unrealistic, the radiation danger created by the illegal occupation of the plant is only growing. Greenpeace warned that loss of power and reactor cooling systems, especially the spent nuclear fuel pools, could lead to a large-scale release of radioactive substances. This threat is a direct result of Russia's occupation and war against Ukraine.

Greenpeace Ukraine has been investigating and exposing Russian plans to restart Zaporizhzhia NPP since 2023. In September 2025, the organization reported that Russian proposals for the possible joint use of ZNPP electricity showed that Russia's ability to implement its plans for the plant was weakening.

"The Russian strategy has been to pressure IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi into following their false narrative on ZNPP, including the so-called inevitability of Russia's long term occupation of the plant and the restart of the reactors under Rosatom control," Greenpeace said. It noted that Grossi had repeated propaganda claims by Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev that a restart was possible and that there were potential agreements on sharing the electricity generated by the plant.

Greenpeace Ukraine's chief nuclear energy specialist, Shaun Burnie, in turn said that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi continues to undermine international efforts aimed at ending Russia's illegal occupation of ZNPP.

"Russia's plans to restart the reactors and integrate the plant into the Russian power grid are both illegal under international law and increasingly unrealistic. That is the message the IAEA should be delivering to Rosatom and the Russian government," Shaun Burnie stressed.

As Ukrinform previously reported, on July 14 another blackout occurred at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — the tenth since the beginning of the year — and external power supply has since been restored.