The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has launched criminal proceedings under the article "ecocide" over Russia's actions at the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia NPPs.
In particular, Venediktova stressed the seizure of the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia NPPs, which poses a nuclear security threat.
"This could be the second Chernobyl disaster, but it can be up to ten times worse. The Russian population would also suffer, but it seemed insignificant to the aggressor," said the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Venediktova noted that the Prosecutor's Office has already opened a case on the ecocide, and also documents and investigates all war crimes.
Zaporizhzhia NPP and its satellite city Energodar are under the control of occupiers for five days now. As of the morning of March 9, there were 50 units of heavy weapons, about 400 Russian military personnel as well as a number of explosives and weapons on the territory of the NPP.
Ukrainian personnel work at all six power units of the station, but the NPP management is forced to coordinate all technical issues with the occupiers. The staff is under strong psychological pressure from the invaders.
The Chernobyl NPP has no electricity due to the occupiers' actions. The city of Slavutych is also without electricity. The fighting continues, which currently makes it impossible to repair the lines.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has unexpectedly lost contact with safeguards monitoring systems at the Russian-occupied Chernobyl NPP.
Operations with nuclear materials at the Chernobyl NPP have been suspended. Decommissioned nuclear reactors and radioactive waste facilities are located on the site. The regulator says it can only communicate with the NPP via email.