The Ukrainian operator of nuclear power plants, Energoatom, reported the Russian occupation forces abducted the Director General of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Ihor Murashov:
“[On] September 30 around 16:00 our employee, Director General of the Zaporizhzhia NPP Ihor Murashov, was detained by the Russian patrol on his way from the plant to the town of Enerhodar. The vehicle of the Director General of the NPP was stopped, he was taken out of the car, and with his eyes blindfolded he was driven in an unknown direction. For the time being there is no information on his fate,” the report reads.
The Zaporizhzhia NPP has been occupied by the Russian troops for several months now.
The UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAE) said it was seeking information about the director general of the Zaporizhzhia NPP:
“We have contacted Russian authorities and are requesting clarifications,” a spokesperson for the IAEA said in response to a query by Reuters on 1 October.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry condemned “in the strongest terms” the illegal detention of the NPP director:
“This crime is yet another act of the state terrorism by Russia and it represents a grave violation of international law. Russia must immediately release the Director General of the ZNPP.
“We call on the international community, including the UN, the IAEA and the G7 also to take decisive actions to this end,” the MFA statement reads.
The Ministry emphasized, the urgent need to “mobilize international efforts with a view to demilitarize and de-occupy the ZNPP and return the facility under control of Ukraine as the only way to eliminate the current threats to nuclear security.”
