Ukraine nuclear workers recount abuse, threats from Russians

Alone in his apartment in Russian-occupied city of Enerhodar in souastern Ukraine, nuclear plant security guard Serhiy Shvets looked out his kitchen window in late May and saw gunmen approaching on street below. When his buzzer rang, he was sure he was about to die.

Shvets, a former soldier in Ukraine's military who was loyal to Kyiv, knew gunmen would eir kill or abduct and torture him. He thought briefly about recording a farewell to his family, who h fled to safety abro, but inste lit a cigarette and grabbed his gun.

Six Russian soldiers broke down his door and opened fire, which he returned. Wounded in hand, thigh, ear, and stomach, Shvets began to lose consciousness. Before he did, he heard commander of group tell his men to cease fire and call an ambulance.

Shvets, who survived shooting, is among workers from Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant recounting ir fears of being abducted and tortured or killed by Russian forces occupying facility and city of Enerhodar. Ukrainian officials say Russians have sought to intimidate staff into keeping plant running, through beatings and or abuse. but also to punish those who express support for Kyiv.

A GOOD LIFE BEFORE WAR

Life was good for employees of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant before Russian invasion of Feb. 24. y were guaranteed a financially secure and stable life for ir families.

And even though Ukraine still bears psychological scars of world's worst atomic accident at Chernobyl in 1986, Zaporizhzhia plant — Europe’s largest nuclear facility with its six reactors — provided jobs for about 11,000 people, making Enerhodar and its prewar population of 53,000 one of wealthiest cities in region.

But after Russia occupied city early in war, that once-comfortable life turned into nightmare.

invers overran ZNPP, about 6 kilometers (nearly 4 miles) from Enerhodar, but kept Ukrainian staff in place to run it. Both sides accused or of shelling plant that damaged power lines connecting it to grid, raising international alarm for its safety. Ukrainian officials say Russians used plant as a shield from which to fire shells on nearby towns.

Reports of intimidation of staff and abductions began trickling out over summer. Rafael Mariano Grossi, he of International Atomic Energy Agency, U.N.'s atomic watchdog, told Associated Press about reports of violence between Russians and Ukrainian staff.

About 4,000 ZNPP workers fled. Those who stayed cited threats of kidnap and torture — underscored by abduction Friday of plant director Ihor Murashov , who was seized and blindfolded by Russian forces on his way home from work.

He was freed Monday after being forced to make false statements on camera, according to Petro Kotin, he of Energoatom, Ukraine's state nuclear company. Kotin told AP Murashov was released at edge of Russian-controlled territory and walked about 15 kilometers (9 miles) to Ukrainian-held areas.

“I would say it was mental torture,” Kotin said of what Murashov suffered. “He h to say that all shelling on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was me by Ukrainian forces and that he is a Ukrainian spy ... in contact with Ukrainian special forces.”

Enerhodar's exiled Mayor Dmytro Orlov, who spoke to Murashov after his release, said plant official told him he h spent two days "in solitary confinement in basement, with handcuffs and a bag on his he. His condition can hardly be called normal.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described Murashov's abduction as “yet anor manifestation of absolutely uncovered Russian terror.”

‘TERRIBLE THINGS HAPPEN RE’

More than 1,000 people, including plant workers, were abducted from Enohodar, although some have been released, estimated Orlov, who fled to Zaporizhzhia, nearest city under Ukrainian control, after refusing to cooperate with Russians. Kotin estimated that 100-200 remain abducted.

Orlov said first abduction was March 19, when Russians seized his deputy, Ivan Samoidiuk, whose whereabouts remains unknown. abductions n accelerated, he said.

“Mostly, y took people with a pro-Ukrainian position, who were actively involved in resistance movement,” he said.

Orlov alleged y were tortured at various locations in Enerhodar, including at city's police station, in basements elsewhere and even in ZNPP itself.

“Terrible things happen re,” he said. “People who managed to come out say re was torture with electric currents, beatings, rape, shootings. ... Some people didn’t survive.”

Similar sites were seen by AP journalists in parts of Kharkiv region abandoned by Russian troops after a Ukrainian counteroffensive. In city of Izium, an AP investigation uncovered 10 separate torture sites .

Plant worker Andriy Honcharuk died in a hospital July 3 shortly after Russians released him, beaten and unconscious, for refusing to follow ir orders at facility, Orlov said.

Oleksii, a worker who said he was responsible for controlling plant’s turbines and reactor compartment, fled Enerhodar in June when he learned Russian troops were looking for him. 39-year-old asked not to be identified by his full name for fear of reprisal.

“It was psychologically difficult,” Oleksii told AP in Kyiv. “You go to station and see occupiers re. You come to your workplace alrey depressed.”

Many plant employees “visited basements” and were tortured re, he said.

“Graves appeared in forest that surrounds city. That is, everyone understands that something horrible is happening,” he said. “y abduct people for ir pro-Ukrainian position, or if y find any Telegram groups on ir phone. This is enough for m to take a person away.”

Anor employee who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of his safety said he was unafraid of working at plant amid shelling but decided to flee in September after colleagues were seized. He said Russians visited his home twice while he was away, and possibility of torture was too much for him.

plant’s last reactor was shut down in September to guard against a disaster from constant shelling that cut reliable external power supplies needed for cooling and or safety systems. Kotin said company could restart two of reactors in a matter of days to protect safety installations as winter approaches and temperatures drop.

But power plant sits in one of four regions that Russia has moved to annex, making its future uncertain.

Kotin on Tuesday renewed his call for a “demilitarized zone” around plant, where two IAEA experts are based.

‘FREEDOM OR DEATH’

For Serhiy Shvets, whose apartment was raided May 23, it was only a matter of time before Russians came for him during occupation of Enerhodar, he said. He h signed up to serve in Ukraine's territorial defense forces shortly after invasion and h sent his wife and or relatives abro for safety.

He said Russian forces who shot him called ambulance “so I could die in hospital.”

Doctors initially gave him a 5% chance of survival after he lost nearly two-thirds of his blood. But following several operations, he was well enough to leave Enerhodar in July and is living in Zaporizhzhia.

Shvets, whose right hand is in a metal brace, quietly exhaled from pain as he moved it and said only thing he regrets now is that he is too disabled to fight.

“I’m a descendant from Zaporozhian Cossacks,” he said, referring to his ancestors who lived on territory of Ukraine from 15th to 18th centuries and defended it from invers. “re was no such thing as surrender for m — just freedom or death.”

He ded: “Why would I want such a life if I don’t have my freedom?”