At the end of February, a public event was held to mark the submission of a complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on behalf of the families of 10 Ukrainian civilians who were unlawfully detained by Russia in Enerhodar after the city was occupied in 2022.

The complaint was prepared by lawyers from Legal Action Worldwide in cooperation with the NGO Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners Association. During the event, the findings were presented to the public and to international partners.

The lawyers of Legal Action Worldwide prepared the submission. Our organization contributed to the collection of evidence and to working with the affected families, while the human rights organization Truth Hounds provided research and evidentiary support.

The case concerns employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, whom the Russian authorities accuse of “terrorism” and “espionage” on the basis of confessions obtained under torture and fabricated evidence. Some of them were persecuted for refusing to take a Russian passport or sign a contract with Rosatom. Most have already received unlawful sentences of up to 25 years in prison.

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A separate dimension of this case is the link between human rights violations and nuclear safety risks. The people responsible for the safe operation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant are themselves becoming targets of repression.

During the event, the head of our organization, Ihor Kotelianets, emphasized: “Much is being said in the information space about how territory can be divided, how energy can be shared between countries, but territory and the plant mean thousands of people who are there right now. People whom Russia is holding hostage must not be divided or debated — they must be released immediately.”

Appealing to UN mechanisms is an important step toward increasing international pressure on Russia. The people being held in captivity cannot be treated as bargaining chips — they must be released.