Russians want to steal Ukrainian electricity, and use the Zaporizhia plant as a military base
Since then the Russians have tried, through intimidation, sabotage and violence, to exert technical and administrative control over the plant, with only partial success.but, finding itself close to the frontline, its six reactors have been shut down since September. There are now approximately 500 Russian troops on site, their armoured vehicles cached in the turbine halls and in underground bunkers designed to shelter staff in case of a nuclear accident.
The Russians have wanted to connect the Zaporizhia plant to the Crimean grid they control, in order to steal Ukrainian electricity. But they have been unable to do so because of damage to electrical substations caused by the fighting. “Right now, it looks like they are not making any more attempts to reconnect,” says Mr Kotin. “They are stuck.”
The roughly 3,000 Ukrainian employees still at the plant have been working under the constant intimidation that goes with occupation. “Exacerbating the situation, they are now also faced with conflicting instructions on how to run the plant,” said Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in a recent announcement. The IAEA has four international members of staff at the plant.
The mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, says that around 1,000 people, plant employees and residents of his town, have been detained by the Russians since the occupation began last March. Some have been released, traumatised. Others have been killed. In May, for example, Russians shot one engineer five times in his home. He was allowed to be evacuated to Ukrainian territory, where doctors saved his life. About 70 people are still in Russian hands.
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