What Lies Ahead for Ukraine’s Contested Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant?

A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant before the arrival of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (Reuters)

10:25-27 December 2025 AD ـ 08 Rajab 1447 AH

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, is one of the main sticking points in US President Donald Trump's peace plan to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine. The issue is one of 20 points laid out by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a framework peace proposal.

Here are some of the issues regarding the facility:

WHAT ROLE MAY THE US PLAY?

Russia took control of the plant in March 2022 and announced plans to connect it to its power grid. Almost all countries consider that it belongs to Ukraine but Russia says it is owned by Russia and a unit of Russia's state-owned Rosatom nuclear corporation runs the plant.

Zelenskiy stated at the end of December that the US side had proposed joint trilateral operation of the nuclear power plant with an American chief manager.

Zelenskiy said the Ukrainian proposal envisages Ukrainian-American use of the plant, with the US itself determining how to use 50% of the energy produced.

Russia has considered joint Russian-US use of the plant, according to the Kommersant newspaper.

WHAT IS ITS CURRENT STATUS?

The plant is located in Enerhodar on the banks ‌of the Dnipro River and ‌the Kakhovka Reservoir, 550 km (342 miles) southeast of the capital Kyiv.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has ‌six ⁠Soviet-designed reactors. They were ‌all built in the 1980s, although the sixth only came online in the mid-1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It has a total capacity of 5.7 gigawatts, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) database.

Four of the six reactors no longer use Russian nuclear fuel, having switched to fuel produced by then-US nuclear equipment supplier Westinghouse.

After Russia took control of the station, it shut down five of its six reactors and the last reactor ceased to produce electricity in September 2022. Rosatom said in 2025 that it was ready to return the US fuel to the United States.

According to the Russian management of the plant, all six reactors are in "cold shutdown."

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of striking the nuclear plant and of severing power lines to the plant.

The plant's equipment is powered by ⁠electricity supplied from Ukraine. Over the past four years these supplies have been interrupted at least eleven times due to breaks in power lines, forcing the plant to switch to emergency diesel generators.

Emergency generators ‌on site can supply electricity to keep the reactors cool if external power lines are cut.

IAEA ‍Director General Rafael Grossi says that fighting a war around a nuclear ‍plant has put nuclear safety and security in constant jeopardy.

WHY DOES RUSSIA WANT ZAPORIZHZHIA PLANT?

Russia has been preparing to restart the station but ‍says that doing so will depend on the situation in the area. Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev has not ruled out the supply of electricity produced there to parts of Ukraine.

Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Center in Kyiv, said Moscow intended to use the plant to cover a significant energy deficit in Russia's south.

"That's why they are fighting so hard for this station," he said.

In December 2025, Russia's Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision issued a license for the operation of reactor No. 1, a key step towards restarting the reactor.

Ukraine's energy ministry called the move illegal and irresponsible, risking a nuclear accident.

WHY DOES UKRAINE NEED THE PLANT?

Russia has been pummeling Ukraine's energy infrastructure for months and some areas have had blackouts during winter.

In recent ⁠months, Russia has sharply increased both the scale and intensity of its attacks on Ukraine's energy sector, plunging entire regions into darkness.

Analysts say Ukraine's generation capacity deficit is about 4 gigawatts, or the equivalent of four Zaporizhzhia reactors.

Kharchenko says it would take Ukraine five to seven years to build the generating capacity to compensate for the loss of the Zaporizhzhia plant.

Kharchenko said that if Kyiv regained control of the plant, it would take at least two to three years to understand what condition it was in and another three years to restore the equipment and return it to full operations.

Both Ukrainian state nuclear operator Energoatom and Kharchenko said that Ukraine did not know the real condition of the nuclear power plant today.

WHAT ABOUT COOLING FUEL AT THE PLANT?

In the long term, there is the unresolved problem of the lack of water resources to cool the reactors after the vast Kakhovka hydro-electric dam was blown up in 2023, destroying the reservoir that supplied water to the plant.

Besides the reactors, there are also spent fuel pools at each reactor site used to cool down used nuclear fuel. Without water supply to the pools, the water evaporates and the temperatures increase, risking fire.

An emission of hydrogen from a spent fuel pool caused an explosion in Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster in ‌2011.

Energoatom said the level of the Zaporizhzhia power plant cooling pond had dropped by more than 15%, or 3 meters, since the destruction of the dam, and continued to fall.

Ukrainian officials previously said the available water reserves may be sufficient to operate one or, at most, two nuclear reactors.

Investors Prosper and Consumers Pay as the Iran War Exacts an Uneven Economic Toll 6 Months in

People walk near an anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran, July 15, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

08:22-30 August 2026 AD ـ 17 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Investors Prosper and Consumers Pay as the Iran War Exacts an Uneven Economic Toll 6 Months in

People walk near an anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran, July 15, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

As the US and Israel relentlessly bombed Iran in the opening days of war, the most dramatic predictions of the conflict’s toll were unsparing: surging oil prices, worldwide recession and economic catastrophe.

But six months into the conflict, the direst predictions haven’t come true even if no corner of the world's economy has been untouched.

“So far, the global economy has pulled off the financial equivalent of a ‘Mission Impossible’ scene,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, an investment strategist with Cerity Partners.

Here's a look at how the global economy has weathered the war, and who have been the winners and losers:

Winner: Investors who didn’t panic

Stock markets hate uncertainty, and the decision by the US and Israel to attack Iran on Feb. 28 delivered heaps of it. Columns of smoke rose from Tehran, frantic Iranians clogged roadways trying to escape, and mounting deaths, including of children, made headlines. It was enough for any investor to feel squeamish.

Oil prices surged and Wall Street began a retreat that would begin five consecutive losing weeks. The Dow and Nasdaq entered corrections. The S&P 500 had its worst month since 2022.

But a major turnaround has unfolded since the market bottomed in late March. The Dow has gained nearly 19%, the S&P is up almost 22% and the Nasdaq has surged 27%. If those gains survive the waning months of 2026, all three indexes would post their fourth consecutive year of gains.

The International Monetary Fund, in a July report, said the economy was “being shaped by two major forces, pushing in opposite directions.” The war has strained growth, but enthusiasm over artificial intelligence has offset the drag.

Main Street may be paying more for fuel, food and travel. But Wall Street, so far, is shrugging it off.

Loser: Anyone on the move

The war's most obvious economic consequence has been its impact on oil. With tanker movement through the Strait of Hormuz slowed to a crawl, the price of Brent crude climbed from a prewar close of about $72 a barrel to as high as nearly $120. Although prices have eased, they are still up about 20% from before the war.

Oil's price affects everything from crayons to cosmetics, but it hits anyone on the move especially hard.

Jet fuel is expected to cost, on average, 70% more than in 2025, according to the International Air Transport Association. Airlines, in turn, have raised ticket costs, hiked baggage fees and slapped on fuel surcharges while slashing flights or backing off from plans for added routes. Lufthansa Group, for one, cut 20,000 short-haul flights. Spirit Airlines, though troubled for years, evaporated.

“The likelihood that fuel surcharges are going to be rolled back and airfares are going to be brought down is very low over the next few months,” said Brett House, a Columbia University economist. “There is less choice for consumers and less competition between airlines, and therefore, less pressure to rein in fare increases.”

A plume of smoke rises after a strike on the Iranian capital Tehran, on March 3, 2026. (AFP)

Winner: The case for clean power

With tankers at a standstill and fuel prices climbing, the war strengthened a clean-power sales pitch.

Sales of electric vehicles hit records in some parts of the world. In Singapore, year-over-year growth of EVs reached 110%. In New Zealand, the figure hit 180%. And in Colombia, EVs notched a 300% increase.

Worldwide, EVs are projected to account for 29% of total vehicle sales in 2026, according to an International Energy Agency outlook, up from 25% last year. That growth is even more impressive considering the world’s two biggest economies, the United States and China, saw declining demand for EVs.

Countries that were particularly reliant on Gulf oil have been spurred to action. In Southeast Asia, leaders have rolled out more use of renewable energy and researched deploying nuclear power. In Africa, countries have looked to expand domestic refining and accelerated the installation of solar panels.

Scott Lehmann, a supply chain expert at Sphera, an operational intelligence firm, counts 26 countries and regions that have announced clean energy and electrification measures in response to the war.

“The crisis is forcing investment faster than any policy framework would have,” he said.

Loser: The fight against hunger

For the privileged, the costs brought by war may barely be a blip. For the poorest, it's a different story.

With the Gulf not just a leader in global oil production, but also of fertilizer, the war has dealt a blow to farmers. Just as many were making decisions about their crops, fertilizer prices soared, peaking in April at 44% higher than before the war, according to the World Bank’s price index.

In response, some farmers trimmed their fertilizer use, potentially imperiling next year’s harvests. “If you’re reducing your fertilizer usage right now, it’s in a way borrowing against next year’s soil health,” said Arif Gasilov, a natural resources expert with the Gasilov Group consultancy.

The United Nations World Food Program has warned that tens of millions could be pushed into hunger. In testimony this week, its acting executive director, Carl Skau, said the “suffocation of fertilizer exports” had hit Asia and Africa hard. Higher transportation costs hindered the WFP’s own humanitarian efforts, too.

“An oil tanker anchored in the Strait of Hormuz can mean one less meal a day for a child in Sudan,” Skau said. “When oil prices go up, so does the price of flour, rice and vegetables.”

A drone view shows vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 28, 2026. (Reuters)

Winner: The Trumps’ businesses

The war has already cost the US tens of billions of dollars and caused thousands in Iranian casualties. It has shaved an estimated hundreds of billions of dollars from projected global output.

But the family of the man at the center of it all, President Donald Trump, has been among the beneficiaries.

Military contractor Powerus, about to be taken public by Eric and Donald Trump Jr., won an Air Force contract worth as much as $90 million to supply interceptors to shoot down Iranian drones.

Similarly, the private equity firm 1789 Capital Management, which Don Jr. joined days after his father’s reelection, owns stakes in several other military contractors profiting from the war. One of them, Anduril, won US approval for up to $2 billion in sales of drone interceptors. A second, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is providing satellite service to guide US drones against Iran. And a third — rocket maker Firehawk Defense — won Pentagon contracts for propellants and warheads to replenish dwindling US supplies.

A spokeswoman for 1789 Capital, Alexa Henning, said Don Jr. wasn't involved in the decision to put money in those companies, so there is no “nefarious connection.”

The president himself has done well, too.

His investment portfolio run by outside managers has scooped up shares of US military suppliers helped by the war, including Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman. Democrats released a report this week saying Trump’s holdings in oil and gas stocks have soared by as much as $15.5 million.

A White House spokeswoman, Anna Kelly, insisted “there are no conflicts of interest” and that “President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public.”

Even as Trump's personal finances have benefited, his political fortunes are another question. The conflict has been unpopular and could weigh on voters as midterm elections near.

Features

US Military Families Ride ‘Roller Coaster of Emotions’ Over Six Months of Iran War

This US Navy handout photo released on July 15, 2026 and taken on June 30 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows the Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7 flying in formation over the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) in the Arabian Sea. (AFP / US Central Command Public Affairs)

07:03-30 August 2026 AD ـ 17 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

US Military Families Ride ‘Roller Coaster of Emotions’ Over Six Months of Iran War

Since the United States went to war with Iran six months ago, Courtney Sanders has been helping soldiers’ families fill the gaps left by their loved ones.

There are school pickups to coordinate, lost incomes to supplement — and the ever-present separation anxiety.

“It's like being on pins and needles all of the time,” Sanders said.

She leads the Chicagoland chapter of Blue Star Families, the nation's largest nonprofit serving military families, and her own daughters are in the US Navy. They have served in various overseas locations over the past six months, including the Middle East.

The US has more than 50,000 troops stationed across the region and has deployed thousands of additional Marines and sailors to support the war effort. Eighteen US service members have been killed in the conflict and more than 750 wounded.

During the war's on-and-off fighting, shuttle diplomacy and failed peace talks, military families have experienced a “roller coaster of emotions,” Sanders said. “The moment that you feel you're able to take a breath, you ‌get gut-punched again.”

These ‌are familiar pressures for the partners and children, mothers and fathers, of American troops. But ‌the ⁠suddenness of the Iranian ⁠conflict, and its fitful pace, have had a compounding effect, relatives told Reuters.

In a Blue Star Families poll of some 200 active-duty military families in early March, 81% reported elevated stress from the Iran conflict.

The group has responded by stepping up its programming, creating online resource hubs, hosting webinars and in-person meet-ups, and matching military spouses going through a deployment for the first time with those who have been through it before.

Many service members' deployments have been extended unexpectedly. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier went more than 200 days without a port call — a modern-day record, according to Democratic lawmakers — and military outlets reported suicide attempts and declining morale among its 5,000 sailors and Marines.

US Defense Secretary ⁠Pete Hegseth said the reports “completely misrepresented” the conditions on board.

Some military families find themselves ‌in financial straits.

National Guard members, for example, often work regular jobs when they are ‌not deployed. The sudden loss of their main paycheck can make it hard for those left behind to keep food on the table, Sanders ‌said.

"There is a huge misconception in the civilian world that if you are in the military, all of your bills ‌are taken care of,” she said. “And that is just frankly not true.”

In a statement, the Pentagon said: "We see these families (and) we hear their concerns. We will do whatever is necessary to provide the resources, assistance, and stability they need and deserve during these challenging times."

'A LOT OF EMOTIONS'

Shannon, an Army spouse and mother of three in North Carolina who requested Reuters use only her first name for security reasons, tries to ‌tune out the news and the political debate surrounding the war.

In February, her husband deployed to the region with five days' notice and could only contact her sporadically for the first ⁠several months.

Although they have maintained ⁠near-daily communication since June, "there are a lot of emotions,” Shannon said, “especially when people are dying over there.”

Her children started therapy over the summer. She tries to be strong in front of them, but cries sometimes when they’re not around.

Soon after her husband's deployment, Shannon joined an Army-sponsored soldier-and-family "readiness group" within her husband's unit, helping organize meal trains and other support for family members in need.

"Every day is not going to be a great day, but you've gotta just keep going and keep yourself busy," she said.

In Virginia, Pat, a Navy spouse who also asked to be identified by her first name for security reasons, has tried to keep life as normal as possible for her children, who are in middle and high school.

Since her husband deployed about five months ago, Pat said, her neighbors have been "amazing" about helping with kid pickups and other chores.

Her family wears red on Fridays — a show of support for deployed service members — and so do many of her children's classmates, even those without military connections.

Pat's husband has deployed before. She was pleasantly surprised this time to discover his ship had Wi-Fi, making communication easier.

Still, her family is grappling with the uncertainty of when he will return.

"Having older kids and knowing that dad wasn't there to see those sporting events, some of that's been a little emotional," she said. "But my kids are very resilient."

Features

Data Center Backlash Scrambles US Midterm Politics

In an aerial view, the Stargate Oracle AI data center campus is seen on August 26, 2026 in Abilene, Texas. (Getty Images/AFP)

06:52-30 August 2026 AD ـ 17 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Data Center Backlash Scrambles US Midterm Politics

In an aerial view, the Stargate Oracle AI data center campus is seen on August 26, 2026 in Abilene, Texas. (Getty Images/AFP)

The data centers powering America's artificial intelligence boom have become an unlikely target in November's midterm elections, as anger over rising electricity bills and noise turns Democrats -- and a growing number of Republicans -- against Big Tech.

Candidates in at least 21 races across 18 states have aired television advertisements mentioning data centers this cycle, according to marketing data cited by US media, almost evenly divided between both parties.

On the grid serving Senate battleground Ohio, as well as 12 other states, demand from data centers drove up capacity costs by $9.3 billion in a single year, a 174 percent increase, according to an independent market monitor.

Anger over household bills has merged with a broader populist distrust of Silicon Valley, exposing lawmakers who, until recently, were courting the sprawling server farms with tax breaks and promises of jobs and investment.

In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott has frozen new projects while regulators weigh their impact on power and water supplies. It was Abbott who, not long ago, called his state the "epicenter of AI development."

His Democratic challenger wants a moratorium until lawmakers pass stronger safeguards, and accuses Abbott of putting wealthy interests ahead of ordinary Texans.

In Brazoria -- between Houston and the Gulf Coast -- 44-year-old Melissa Burnett told AFP the serenity of her quiet neighborhood had been shattered by a 17-megawatt center last year that is "like a freight train always coming at you."

"We were not supposed to hear it, nor was it supposed to affect our quality of life, and it's just done the opposite, you know?" she said.

Almost alone among Republicans, President Donald Trump has not moved. He still calls the industry essential to beating China on AI, leaving him at odds with candidates running under his own banner.

- 'Sleeper issue' -

The midwestern former manufacturing hub of Ohio offers perhaps the sharpest test of the politics of data centers.

Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who lost his Senate berth in 2024, is running for the Buckeye State's other seat. Brown has run at least four ads attacking Republican Jon Husted for courting data center investment as lieutenant governor.

They brand Husted "the face of data centers," and Brown has promised to make operators pay the full cost of the power they use.

Senate Republicans have warned that the issue could cost Husted the race. Their campaign arm called data centers a "sleeper issue" and said a defeat blamed on them would chill political support for the industry nationwide.

The same argument is turning up in races that have little else in common: a Republican running for governor in Florida promising to shield families from facilities that push up utility bills; a Pennsylvania Democrat demanding that tech companies cover their own costs; a Wyoming Republican who won a House primary on advertisements attacking Silicon Valley billionaires.

In Michigan, the issue toppled two better-connected Democrats in a primary won by a leftist who said opposition had united committed Republicans, Trump voters, independents and Democrats.

- Both parties turn -

In Wisconsin, Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Tiffany has taken to calling his Democratic opponent "Data Center David Crowley." Earlier this year Tiffany was praising the technology and voting to speed AI infrastructure through.

Tiffany now wants the state's tax incentives scrapped and the industry more tightly regulated, though he stops short of a ban.

Democratic governors are moving the same way.

New York has imposed a year-long moratorium on new hyperscale facilities, and Pennsylvania now requires developers to cover infrastructure costs and meet tougher standards on water use, hiring and community consultation.

Trump has not moved with them.

"America must remain dominant in the AI race that is the future. I think the American people understand that, and this president certainly does," his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.

His administration has signed up Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon to a voluntary "Ratepayer Protection Pledge."

Under it, the companies undertake not to leave consumers paying for the power plants and grid upgrades their facilities require.

The pledge has not stopped the advertisements.

What Lies Ahead for Ukraine’s Contested Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant?

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