Ukraine has condemned Russia for the “shameful” jailing of a Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) engineer for donating money to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and allegedly providing detials on the location of Russian armed forces.
The Zaporizhzhia Regional Court, which is controlled by Russian authorities, sentenced Ukrainian Ruslan Lavryk, a 55-year-old engineer at ZNPP, under the Art. 275 of Russia’s Criminal Code (state treason) to 16 years in a strict regime colony, the court said on Telegram on Oct. 15.
Lavryk was accused of donating money to a fundraiser for the purchase of “electronic warfare equipment” for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in April and May 2024, and providing Ukraine with information about the movements and deployment of Russian forces in Enerhodar.
The ZNPP, the largest nuclear power station in Europe, located in the city of Energodar, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022.
Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov, who lives in Ukraine-controlled territory, told the Kyiv Independent that Lavryk was sentenced on Oct. 14 and was arrested for violating curfew.
“After being detained, he was taken home, searched, and had his bank cards, phones, laptops, and other equipment confiscated. Every 30 days, the detention was extended for another 30 days,” Orlov said.
Orlov also added that Lavryk has heart problems and needs hospitalization after prolonged captivity and torture.
“All criminal convictions handed down in the temporarily occupied territories were and remain legally invalid and have no legal force,” Orlov said in a statement on Oct. 15.
Ukraine’s state nuclear operator Energoatom, in a comment provided to the Kyiv Independent, “strongly” condemned the imprisonment, saying that “this shameful trial is yet another example of systematic human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territories.”
“We regard the fabricated case against Ruslan Lavryk as revenge for his dedication to his profession and his country. It is part of the Kremlin’s deliberate policy of intimidation and pressure on ZNPP staff who remained in occupied Energodar and did not sign a contract with the fake occupation administration,” Energoatom told the Kyiv Independent.
According to Energoatom, at least 14 employees of the ZNPP are “illegally detained.”
A Russian soldier stands outside the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant’s second reactor on May 1, 2022. The photo was taken during a media tour organized by the Russian army. (Andrey Borodulin / AFP via Getty Images)
An investigation by the Truth Hounds and Greenpeace Ukraine published on Sept. 24 detailed Rosatom’s role in pressuring plant staff, “including beatings, electrocution, sexual violence, mock executions, and threats to family members of detainees.” Rosatom, the Russian nuclear giant, became ZNPP’s operator after the occupation.
The report indicated that 78 staff members were unlawfully detained, while six were “tortured to death.”
It remains disconnected from Ukraine’s electrical grid for 25 days as Russian troops reportedly struck a power line at ZNPP on Sept. 23. As a result, the plant has been forced to rely on backup diesel generators to maintain critical safety functions and provide electricity.
ZNPP’s six reactors were shut down a month after Moscow’s occupation, but the facility still requires electricity to maintain cooling and prevent a nuclear incident.
After Russian state media put the blame for the attacks on Ukraine’s Armed Forces, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Oct. 6 that it was “a deliberate provocation by Russia.”
Greenpeace Ukraine published an investigation on Oct. 1, saying that there is no evidence of any military strikes around the pylons and power line network at the plant.
“Greenpeace is concerned about the high probability that Russia would further escalate the current crisis, and one of the ways they could do that is by further causing more permanent damage to the electricity lines,” Greenpeace nuclear expert Jan Vande Putte told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 7.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring mission has been stationed at the site since September 2022, but Russian authorities have frequently restricted its access.
Rafael Grossi, the IAEA director general, visited Moscow on Sept. 26 to participate in Russia’s World Atomic Week — which marked the 80th anniversary of Russia’s nuclear industry — and met with the head of Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom.
“We once again call on the international community, in particular partner countries and the IAEA, to increase pressure on Russia with the aim of complete demilitarization and de-occupation of the ZNPP and its return to the full control of the legitimate Ukrainian operator, Energoatom,” Energoatom said.
“This is the only way to restore nuclear safety and end the terror against Ukrainian civilian nuclear workers.”
Russia’s Rosatom complicit in war crimes, report alleges, says treatment of power plant staff risks nuclear disaster
Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom, is complicit in war crimes including the detention and torture of staff at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), adding to a growing risk of a nuclear disaster, a new report by Truth Hounds and Greenpeace Ukraine claims. Russian forces took control of Energodar, home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in March 2022, the first time in history that a military occupation took over such a facility. “Right now, the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear
