Ukraine blames Russia for power cut at Chernobyl nuclear plant and says it could cause "nuclear discharge"

The power supply was cut to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said, blaming Russia's invading forces for the blackout and warning that it could lead to "nuclear discharge." 

The U.N.-backed global nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, downplayed concerns of an imminent radioactive release, but a Ukrainian national emergency services agency said if power to the plant's cooling systems, which prevent spent nuclear fuel from evaporating, is not ensured, it could leave winds to blow a "radioactive cloud to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe."

The Chernobyl power plant, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, "was fully disconnected from the power grid," Ukraine's national energy operator Ukrenergo said Wednesday in a statement on its Facebook page, adding that military operations meant there was "no possibility to restore the lines." 

Radioactive substances could be released from the plant if it is unable to cool spent nuclear fuel, Energoatom, the state-run company that operates all of Ukraine's nuclear power plants, said according to the Reuters news agency.