The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest nuclear plant,
has been shut down, according to Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear agency. The very
last reactor of the nuclear plant was shut down on Sunday 3:41 pm local time,
the agency said in a statement and added that “arrangements for its cooling and
transfer to a cold state are underway.”

Ukraine’s nuclear agency said that one of its transmission lines
was restored to the operational capacity on Saturday and thus the nuclear plant
can now be powered from Ukraine’s energy system. The number 6 power unit was
shut down and will be returned to its “safest state – cold shutdown.”

Until it was shut off, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was
operating in “island mode” and generating electricity, using its own power to
cool systems.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has always been in the line of
fire in course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Kremlin sought to take control
of the plant from the very beginning of the war and shelling around the area
has kept the world on its toes for fear of a nuclear catastrophe.

Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called
for “the immediate establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection
zone,” around the nuclear plant. This was after IAEA Director General Rafael
Grossi visited the plant to check out the situation, the first independent
review since Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Ukraine, on the other hand, made certain gains over the weekend.
Kyiv forces have forced Russian troops back in several towns and villages of
eastern Ukraine, near the Kharkiv region. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
said on Sunday that his forces have managed to take back nearly 2,000 square
kilometres of area. Russia does, however, occupy around a fifth of Ukraine
right now.

For Ukraine’s
counteroffensive, the key was speed. The pace at which Ukrainian troops moved
into the towns of Izyum and Kupiansk took not just Russian troops but even
Ukrainians by surprise.