Beyond borders: why world needs to be concerned with Russian occupation of Europe’s largest nuclear facility
Olha Konsevych

On the first day when Russians occupied Europe’s largest nuclear facility, they immediately told the workers that they were essentially hostages: “Now this is Russia, this is ‘Rosatom’.”
These days are remembered by a witness – an employee who managed to leave the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Zaporizhzhia region and travel to Ukrainian-controlled territory, anonymously sharing with us the initial actions of the Russians at the facility.

Zaporizhzhia NPP was seized by Russian military forces on March 4, 2022. A fake management team was appointed at the station, operating without licences and permits, with representatives of the Russian state corporation ‘Rosatom’ illegally present.
Over more than two years of Russian occupation of ZNPP, at least 150 cases of violations of proper operation conditions, nuclear, and radiation safety have been recorded. And the situation is only worsening.
Ukraine’s position remains unchanged: Russian military personnel, along with representatives of ‘Rosatom’, must leave the station.
Just in the past month, Russia twice accused Ukraine of shelling ZNPP without providing any evidence to support its claims. Moreover, the only threat to NPP comes from Russian military forces who have occupied the power plant and conduct UAV operator training there.
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), working at ZNPP, cannot access all areas of the station due to “rules”, established by the Russian military.
For instance, on July 4, representatives of the temporarily occupied ZNPP informed IAEA experts that the external radiation monitoring station was destroyed due to shelling and fire. However, the agency’s experts were not allowed access to the radiation monitoring station to verify the damage, as reported in the international agency’s report.
Also last month, Energodar, where most of the ZNPP personnel reside, was left without electricity for 16 hours following reports of drone strikes on the “Raduga” and “Luch” substations.

Personnel terror and humiliation
The mayor of Energodar, Dmytro Orlov, has repeatedly stated that Ukrainian workers are forced to sign contracts with ‘Rosatom’ or take Russian passports. Often, their families have no contact with them. The most severe torture is inflicted upon those who refuse to cooperate with the occupiers. Those who protest vehemently are imprisoned, and people endure regular moral and physical pressure.
In other cases, Russians demote station engineers to locksmiths and cut their salaries. Currently, there are no experienced Ukrainian personnel left at the station.
But how do the Russians manage to control this strategic object and what are their further plans?
Here it is necessary to tell a little bit of background. The fact is that before the war, Ukraine and Russia had a series of cooperation directions in the nuclear industry, including the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, the purchase of new fuel assemblies and more. In other words, Russia was sufficiently informed about what was happening at nuclear facilities, with no declared nuclear or biological activity conducted here a priori. But now Russia hopes to restore some authority.

Plans to restart ZNPP
Experts from the international public organisation Bellona Foundation conducted an analysis to determine Russia’s goals, the resources that could be involved, and the possible consequences.
According to analysts, ‘Rosatom’ manages both the Zaporizhzhia NPP and the Zaporizhzhia TPP, distributing power to all occupied territories except Crimea.
“Managing the Zaporizhzhia NPP results in additional expenses and problems for Rosatom. Restarting the NPP and selling electricity could partially offset these expenses, although the cost of wholesale electricity in occupied territories is likely much higher than in Russia due to wartime fuel logistics challenges,” experts believe.
The Russian-occupied ZNPP has transitioned all six units to cold shutdown since April 2024.
According to the Bellona Foundation, cold shutdown mode is the safest state under current circumstances. Shifting reactors to a critical state or starting power generation would significantly increase the risks of radiation and nuclear accidents during the ongoing war.
“The start of a unit will be preceded by specific observable actions: construction and launch of a new pump station, reconnection to the Russian grid, and nuclear fuel reloading.
It is crucial to monitor these real actions rather than rely on words and rumors,” experts emphasized.

The necessity of sanctions against Russia’s nuclear sector
Vira Konstantinova, an expert on international issues from Ukraine, reminds that the nuclear sector of Russia, as in principle, Russian energy resources are budget-forming.
“This means that the Russian leadership uses not only energy weapons but also civilian nuclear generation in its aggressive foreign policy strategies. And essentially, through the funds that flow into the Russian federal budget for performing various service work, building nuclear facilities in other countries, providing related services in the nuclear sphere, the Russian regime can continue to sponsor the genocidal war against Ukraine for a long period of time,” she warns.
The expert reminds that the nuclear sector involves long-term multibillion-dollar contracts through which the Russian leadership can continue to financially motivate rapidly impoverishing Russians to sign contracts aimed at further sending them to war in Ukraine to solve their financial problems.
“At the same time, attention should be drawn to the fact that ZNPP is on the verge of its technical operability, having military equipment around the perimeter of the nuclear facility. Violating all principles of nuclear safety, Russia has no right to have a voice in the IAEA as a specialised organisation intended to ensure the use of nuclear technologies for the benefit of nations.
Currently, nuclear sanctions are the instrument that can reduce Russia’s financial capabilities to conduct a war against Ukraine,” Vira Konstantinova is confident.
Her opinion also coincides with the position of the Ukrainian government, which insists on excluding Russia from the international nuclear energy market and imposing sanctions against ‘Rosatom’ and its personnel managing ZNPP without proper qualifications.
Olha Konsevych is a Journalist, researcher
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