Ukrainian power plant workers claim they were tortured by Russian invaders after they defiantly refused to “help” during the occupation of the nuclear plant last year.
Talking to timesIn the Russian-occupied city of Enerhodar, employees of the Zaporizhzhia power plant spoke of how they were brutalized by the invading forces.
For months, armies fought tirelessly over Europe’s largest power plant, which remained staffed by Ukrainians under Russian control until September.
An unidentified alleged victim said: ‘I had bruises and blood on my face. I was beaten on my head and on my body with a rubber baton… They held a gun with rubber bullets a meter or two away from my legs and fired.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine has been occupied since February 2022
A Ukrainian soldier on a tank performs shooting drills at a special firing range near the front line area amid the Russo-Ukrainian war, in Zaporizhia, Ukraine on March 29, 2023.
Members of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service remove rubble at the building destroyed as a result of the Russian strike in Zaporizhia region, Ukraine, Friday, March 31, 2023.
Ihor Murashov, the factory’s director, was arrested last September after refusing to work for the invaders. He evaded torture and was released after negotiations between Putin, French President Macron and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi.
Others spoke of being detained, beaten and shot with rubber bullets for supporting Ukrainian forces.
Some claim that their colleagues were killed by Russian forces during the occupation.
About 11,000 workers were employed at the Zaporizhzhia Power Plant when Russian forces claimed occupation on February 24, 2022, the first day of the war.
As reported in The Times, the invaders “apparently” believed they would be welcomed as they looked to exploit Ukraine’s resource-rich southeast.
One employee explained that the soldiers became frustrated after the workers refused to work for Russia. Soon after they started sending employees “downstairs”.
The Zaporozhye power plant is one of the ten largest in the world and has been responsible for nearly half of the nuclear output of Ukraine’s four reactors.
Ukrainian forces had no luck trying to retake the station from 3 March, with missiles from both sides coming dangerously close to hitting the station.
Five months later, Grossi cautioned about the power plant’s structural integrity and sought permission from both sides to examine He. She.
Both sides accused each other of trying to sabotage the IAEA’s mission.
Energoatom, which operates Ukraine’s four reactors, warned in August last year that the back-and-forth missile launches risked a Chernobyl-style nuclear catastrophe.
They suggested Russian bombing specifically targeting fuel handling containers.
Russia claimed that the Ukrainian 44th Artillery Brigade suspended the factory for the third time.
Tensions rose until August when Zelensky called on the international community to respond to the Russian bombing of the site.
On August 23, the head of the Ukrainian energy industry alleged That the Russian forces tortured workers at the nuclear power plant.
Petro Kotin said: ‘They captured about 1,100 personnel from the site, and they are keeping them in their facilities, the captured facilities and the police facilities in the town of Innerhudar.
One person was killed. Another person was seriously injured.
They are trying to push them to accept the Russian world. All kinds of psychological pressure on them.
Two days later, the power plant was disconnected from the grid, reportedly due to the bombing. The site was forced to back off the diesel generators.
He was First time The station has been disconnected from the Ukrainian national grid during its nearly 40 years of operation. In the weeks that followed, the station continued to be offline.
UN experts were finally able to examine the site by September 1, 2022.
Power outages continued intermittently as the area became a static point on the front line.
Mr. Grossi, who continued to visit the site for inspections organized by Russia, He said The integrity of the plant and the body has been breached ‘many times’.
Members of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service remove rubble at the building destroyed as a result of the Russian strike in Zaporizhia region, Ukraine, Friday, March 31, 2023.
A police officer inspects the remains of a Russian missile that hit a residential area, amid a Russian attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhia, Ukraine on April 9, 2023.
A photo taken during a visit to Innerhodar shows Rosatom’s assistant Rinat Kurchma (left) speaking with IAEA Director Rafael Mariano Grossi (right) at the Zaporizhia plant
Since then, more reports of torture have surfaced at the station.
In March 2023, Mr. Murashov Tell about how the staff were dragged to a place known as “The Pit” at a nearby police station. If they ever returned, they would be found severely beaten.
As of last month, only about 4,600 factory employees were still working, Contin said at the time.
They were given a deadline on the first of April to sign communications linking them to work in the Russian-owned nuclear company, Rosatram.
Just over half have signed up, Contine claimed, with the remainder still united.
