Russians hold at least 13 employees of Zaporizhzhia NPP

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Photo: AFP

During the occupation of Enerhodar, the Russian military illegally imprisoned at least 13 employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

This was reported in «Energoatom».

Seven of them were sentenced to prison terms. In particular, 56-year-old worker Nataliia Shulha was sentenced to 15 years, and engineer Serhiy Poting to 19 years. Three other people are currently in prison awaiting sentencing. The fate of the three employees is unknown — they are reported missing.

The company also recalled that at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russian military tortured Andrii Honcharuk, a diver at the station, to death.

«Meanwhile, the invaders continue to use Zaporizhzhia NPP as a military base. Military vehicles are parked in the turbine rooms and explosive weapons are stored. The plant's equipment is increasingly degrading, and any safe scenario for restarting ZNPP is out of the question», the statement said.

«Energoatom» calls for the immediate release of all illegally detained nuclear workers and the return of ZNPP to the control of the legitimate operator. The company also demands the withdrawal of the Russian military and equipment from the plant.

According to «Energoatom», about five thousand specialists have already left Enerhodar.

Earlier, the Ministry of Energy stressed that due to Russian shelling, Zaporizhzhia NPP lost power to one of the two external power lines connecting the temporarily occupied plant to the Ukrainian power grid.