KIEV, March 11. /TASS/. Ukraine is abandoning Russian nuclear fuel imports, Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear power operator, said in a statement on Telegram on Friday.

"Energoatom is completely abandoning Russian nuclear fuel imports," the statement reads.

"Ukrainian nuclear power plants are prepared to operate without Russian nuclear fuel. To that end, Energoatom will continue to purchase Westinghouse nuclear fuel. In addition, the company will boost efforts to launch the production of fuel cartridges in Ukraine based on the United States’ Westinghouse technology," the company added.

Energoatom operates Ukraine’s four nuclear power plants with a total of 15 power units. All of them were designed to use fuel assemblies currently produced by Russia’s TVEL company. In late 2018, Energoatom and TVEL extended a contract for Russian fuel supplies until 2025.

Following the 2014 Western-backed coup in Ukraine, the authorities that took power then announced plans to gradually abandon Russian fuel and switch to US fuel. The use of US-made fuel assemblies at Ukrainian nuclear power plants earlier led to unplanned service interruptions and lengthy maintenance of power units.