According to the operator of Ukraine's Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the Russian occupiers have arrested or abducted hundreds of workers. There is also talk of torture and killing. The United Nations is alarmed. According to them, a total of 1.6 million Ukrainians have disappeared so far.
The president of the Ukrainian operating company of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has accused the Russian occupiers of kidnapping, torturing and killing Ukrainian employees. "About 200 people have already been arrested, some of them we don't know what happened to them, there is no clue where they are," Petro Kotin, President of Energoatom, told the newspapers of the Funke media group. Some employees were killed, he explained, adding: "We know that people have been tortured."
According to the Energoatom boss, the Russian occupiers are trying to find out which employees are pro-Ukrainian. "It's very difficult for our staff to work there," said Kotin. But the employees knew that staying on site was important for nuclear safety and fire protection. "You are doing your duty." According to Kotin, there are still about a thousand Ukrainian employees at the site. In times of peace, 11,000 people worked in the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Many would have left the region.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has been occupied by Russian troops since March. It has been under fire for weeks, with Russia and Ukraine blaming each other for the attacks. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned of a "nuclear accident" on Tuesday and called for the establishment of a safety zone around the nuclear power plant.
The US and the United Nations (UN) have expressed concern over reports of detentions and abductions of civilians by Russia. Up to 1.6 million Ukrainians, including 1,800 children, have been illegally detained, interrogated and abducted from their homes by Russia, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at a UN Security Council meeting. This practice is a preparation for an annexation of Ukrainian territories.
The Council has determined that Ukrainian civilians are being subjected to a "filtration process" in special camps, said UN Political Affairs Director Rosemary DiCarlo. She demanded access to all detainees. In the coming days, an investigative mission will also start in Olenivka, where 53 Ukrainians are said to have been killed in a prison complex in July. Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said that Ukrainians traveling to Russia "go through a registration rather than a filtration process."
