Our organization participated in the presentation of the Truth Hounds study “Seizing Power: Rosatom’s Participation in the Occupation, Torture, and Nuclear Safety Violations at the Zaporizhzhia NPP,” which took place simultaneously in Kyiv and Vienna.

This is an extremely important document that systematically describes how the Russian corporation Rosatom became part of the occupation administration of Energodar and participated in crimes against civilians and plant workers. This report also included our materials — the testimonies of 17 people, which we collected and submitted for research.

During the presentation in Kyiv, the head of our organization, Igor Kotelyanets, spoke. He said that Zaporizhzhia NPP has today been transformed into a real prison. People are persecuted for their profession or simply for their Ukrainian position. Perhaps about 2,000 people have passed through the torture and isolation centers at Energodar, dozens still remain in captivity.

Igor shared the stories of specific people who are still in Russian captivity:

- Sergey Spartasny, shift manager of the turbine department of the ZNPP — kidnapped and sentenced to 12 years on fabricated charges.

- Oleksandr Matyukhin, station employee — kidnapped in March 2023, received 13 years, lost weight dramatically in captivity.

- Natalia Shulga, ZNPP engineer — sentenced to 15 years, the sentence is based on a staged video.

- Ruslan Lavryk, signal technician — is constantly tortured, has health problems, but is prohibited from hospitalization.

- Tatyana Klyuchko, social worker — in 2024, sentenced in Rostov to 12 years on absurd charges.

- Serhiy Poting, an engineer at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, received 18 years in prison and a fine of 700,000 rubles after torture.

And others.

He emphasized that even those who remain free are actually hostages. About three thousand employees of the power plant remain hostages of their profession and their Ukrainian identity. They cannot leave: special personnel cannot leave a nuclear facility without management, and the occupation authorities simply do not let them out.

Therefore, when talking about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, we must first of all remember: it is not only the reactors that are under threat there. It is the people.

We call on the governments of democratic countries to achieve the release of nuclear workers and residents of Energodar on a separate track. These people have a special status and nature of detention - the occupiers are actually exploiting them, holding them hostage. Their freedom should become one of the key priorities of international negotiations.

Recording of the presentation in Kyiv: https://www.youtube.com/live/uw6mbpSqGbQ?feature=shared

Full text of the study: https://truth-hounds.org/en/cases/seizing-power/

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