The head of the NGO Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners Association, Ihor Kotelianets, took part in a live broadcast on Suspilne News, where he spoke about an international petition calling for the release of Ukrainian civilian employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, whom Russia has been unlawfully detaining since the occupation of Enerhodar.

The petition, published on the platform of the international civic organization Avaaz, has already been signed by more than 52,000 people from around the world. It was initiated by the NGO Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners Association, the families of the abducted ZNPP employees, and the human rights organization Truth Hounds, which documents war crimes in Ukraine. The appeal is addressed to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, urging him to use diplomatic channels to secure the release of the plant’s civilian staff.

During the broadcast, Ihor Kotelianets stressed that the petition is an important tool for drawing international attention to the issue. According to him, the families of the unlawfully imprisoned energy workers have already held meetings in Vienna with representatives of IAEA member states and handed over lists of the abducted plant employees.

The head of the organization emphasized that the IAEA should not only be concerned with the technical safety of nuclear facilities, but should also pay attention to the fate of the people who work at these sites. That is why the organization is calling on the agency’s leadership to use its existing diplomatic contacts with the Russian side to help secure the release of the Ukrainian energy workers.

According to human rights defenders, after the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Russia has been unlawfully detaining at least 36 residents of Enerhodar and plant employees, including women. Most of them are being held in pre-trial detention centers and penal colonies in territories controlled by Russia. Neither their families nor international missions have access to them, and relatives’ testimonies point to systematic torture, pressure, and ill-treatment.

Ihor Kotelianets also drew attention to the fact that the problem concerns not only those who have been unlawfully imprisoned. Thousands of people remain, in effect, hostages of the occupation: around 3,000 employees continue to work at the plant, while another approximately 2,500 people remain in the city without the possibility of freely leaving the occupied territory.

According to the head of the organization, the release of unlawfully imprisoned civilians must become one of the first steps in addressing the humanitarian crisis surrounding the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.