Russia’s Military Controls Europe’s Largest Nuclear Plant Raising Concerns

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

MOSCOW/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Russia said Wednesday it is in complete control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, but concerns remained about the future operations of Europe’s largest nuclear facility.

Russia’s state-run media operating under strict ear-era guidelines quoted the National Guard as saying the plant’s employees are working “normally.”

Members of Ukraine’s National Guard, who were defending it, allegedly “handed over their weapons and were set free” amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

But Ukraine’s Energy Ministry Herman Halushchenko accused Russian troops of torturing the plant’s personnel, saying the employees were being held, hostage.

Footage about shelling at and near the plant shocked those still remembering the 1986 Chernobyl site accident in what is now Ukraine, which was the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

Halushchenko also said that Russia forced the plant’s management to issue a fake statement for propaganda purposes.

The claims uttered by Russia and Ukraine have not been independently verified. But the clashes around Zaporizhzhya and earlier the defunct Chernobyl plant raised concerns about nuclear safety in the heart of Europe.

World leaders have accused Russia’s embattled President Vladimir Putin of endangering the safety of an entire continent by its actions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow launched “nuclear terror” on Ukrainians and, potentially, the rest of the world.

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