The first-ever fuelling of Ukrainian nuclear power plants with non-Russian nuclear fuel in the history of Ukraine is an important stage in Ukraine's long-term separation from Russia, the UK Ministry of Defence believes.

"All of Ukraine's NPPs have reactors based on Soviet designs and until February 2022 it relied on Russia for nuclear fuel. Since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has accelerated plans to diversify its supply," reads UK MoD Defence Intelligence review.

UK analysts recalled that nuclear energy provides about half of Ukraine's electricity.

They stressed that Energoatom's success in finding and installing Western fuel is an important stage in Ukraine's long-term separation from Russia, whose impact on Ukraine's energy supply has significantly reduced.

On 10 September, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko announced that for the first time, a Ukrainian nuclear power plant had been loaded with Westinghouse fuel, which was produced jointly with Energoatom.

Previously, the corresponding fuel was produced only in Russia by TVEL Fuel Company.