--- title: "Fire At Europe’s Largest Nuclear Plant In Ukraine Has Been Extinguished (Updated)" description: "The plant has been at the center of an ongoing battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces." date: "2022-03-03" modified: "2022-03-04" authors: - name: "Tyler Rogoway" job_title: "Editor-in-Chief" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/tyler-rogoway" url: "https://www.twz.com/44567/u-s-establishes-deconfliction-hotline-with-russia-over-ukraine-invasion" categories: - "Around The Globe" - "Europe" - "News & Features" - "Nuclear" - "Nuclear Power" - "Russia" - "Ukraine" tags: - "air defenses" - "Hotline" - "invasion" - "Nuclear planet" - "Odessa" - "putin" - "russia" - "Sanctions" - "Ukraine" - "zelensky" --- # Fire At Europe’s Largest Nuclear Plant In Ukraine Has Been Extinguished (Updated) ![]() *www.twz.com* As Russia's invasion of Ukraine descends into its second week, [talks between the two countries]() were once again largely fruitless. President Zelensky has now challenged Putin to meet with him directly in an attempt to end the deepening conflict. Meanwhile, it looks like a major amphibious operation in southwestern Ukraine [could be imminent](), with the Black Sea port city of Odessa being one likely target. The fears of such an operation are growing so strong that the Ukrainian Navy [appears to have scuttled its own flagship]() so that it would not fall into Russian hands. You can get caught up on all the past news on the conflict in our most recent rolling coverage [piece linked here](), now let's get to the latest. **We have concluded our updates to this story and are continuing our rolling coverage of the conflict in Ukraine [here]().** ## The Latest **UPDATE: 7:01 PM EST—** US DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm states that she has talked to Ukraine's energy minister and is now activating a nuclear incident response team to monitor the situation. She also says the plant's reactors are being shut down. https://twitter.com/_/status/1499577621163626496 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499577623663370248 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499571375836643328 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499582507653681186 ***UPDATE: 9:45: PM EST—*** Some good news, it looks like this was just centered around a training building and the fire has been put out. https://twitter.com/_/status/1499571709774422017 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499568908202049542 ***UPDATE: 9:00 PM EST—*** Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Facility is taking fire from all sides and that firefighters cannot reach a blase there due to the ongoing battle being waged around it. He went on to warn that: "If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chornobyl! Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire." https://twitter.com/_/status/1499544517644808194 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499550301602426907 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499562069020094499 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499560559154499585 Webcams from the site show what look like some sort of flares descending on the compound and one of the buildings being sprayed with heavy gunfire, the tracers clear seen flying through the air. Some open-source intelligence accounts are posting that the area on fire is an office-like facility, although it is not clear if this is the only area on fire or what exactly this part of the infrastructure around the plant does: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499558946432069644 The good news is that there is no detectible radiation spike at this time: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499562515340177416 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499559971289190401 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499563012998545410 From all accounts, the fighting around the facility is only heating up. There is a major risk to such an operation and, of course, Ukraine has a dark history when it comes to nuclear disasters. The fact that Russia would prosecute such a target is absolutely puzzling as a major disaster there could impact them heavily. They opened their northern [front in the Chernobyl exclusion zone](), which was also risky, but this is an operating nuclear plant, not an entombed one. It shows a kind of desperation that aligns with their pivot to using strikes on civilian infrastructure in the last couple of days, but the stakes are so high here that it is still baffling. ***Posted: 4:20 PM EST—*** A deconfliction hotline has been established between the U.S. and Russia to address possible miscalculations and to deescalate potentially volatile situations should they occur. Of course, we have seen similar setups during the Cold War and as recent as the conflict in Syria that have worked well and have served as fallback means to communication that could avert outright disaster. It's also a good sign that despite the immense tensions between the two nuclear powers, it is still understood that keeping communications open is essential to the national security of both countries. https://twitter.com/_/status/1499478569176772610 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499466427337777160 More sanctions on more oligarchs—the pressure is really intensifying economically: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499459650839789569 Not the most encouraging signal, is it?: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499445366411993093 Expanded southern offensive looms as does the possibility for a widescale counteroffensive: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499428180289015808 Against all odds, Ukraine's air defenses remain remarkably intact: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499414098483814406 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499430105554292739 More destroyed armor near Kyiv: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499441751987310596 One increasingly concerning part of this conflict is the battle being waged around the largest nuclear plant in Europe: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499486029945970692 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499462722781597700 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499455711746703366 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499448266991325193 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499486010702499846 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499446053149585413 More videos of Russian Su-30s that appear to be stretching their legs a bit more as of late: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499472278152695808 It seems that more aerial combat capability is spinning up at bases in Belarus: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499460851509579785 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499461606324916251 Meanwhile, the U.S. has responded to the increasing possibility that Russia may deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499396742537629701 Reports are now emerging that Belarus has sent the order to deploy its troops into Ukraine: https://twitter.com/_/status/1499490445843476482 https://twitter.com/_/status/1499491711210434563 **We have concluded our updates to this story and are continuing our rolling coverage of the conflict in Ukraine [here]().** *Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com* ## Author Tyler’s passion is the study of military technology, strategy, as well as foreign policy, and he has fostered a dominant voice on those topics in the defense and national security space. Tyler was the creator of the hugely popular defense site *Foxtrot Alpha* before developing *TWZ*, which he continues to lead as the Editor-In-Chief to this day. ### Author social links [Twitter]()