During the occupation of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the Russian military detained and in many cases tortured the personnel of the nuclear power plant, The Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the publication, the occupants detained more than 200 employees of the power plant, and some of them are reported missing.
First, they detained technical and service personnel. Later, the top management was persecuted. On September 30, 46-year-old ZNPP Director General Ihor Murashov was detained.
“Hooded and handcuffed, Ihor Murashov, director general of Europe’s largest nuclear plant, was on the stone floor of a basement prison, accused by masked men of betraying Russia. He could hear the captors interrogating his chauffeur,” WSJ writes.
The publication notes that the armed guards ordered Murashov to stand in front of the camera.
“What you say now will determine your fate,” the Wall Street Journal quoted ZNPP Director General.
Ihor Murashov was released in October after lobbying by the UN and French President Emmanuel Macron. Now he and other ZAES employees are in the territory controlled by Ukraine. They say that a Russian FSB unit ran underground prisons near the plant, where they struck detained workers with rifle butts and batons, shot them in the feet and elbows, deprived them of food and attached electrodes to their ears and fingers.
Some were held and tortured in a dungeon, which the Russians called " The Hole". As a result of the Russians' abuse, underwater repairman Andriy Honcharuk went into a coma and later died.
The publication notes that the IAEA, which has four observers on site, has expressed concern about the pressure the NPP personnel are facing.
On the evening of 19 November and on the morning of the 20th, the IAEA staff at ZNPP heard more than 10 explosions and saw a column of smoke. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that the explosions damaged buildings, systems and equipment. Some explosions were heard near the reactors.