Kyiv dismisses the director of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, one day after Moscow’s appointment Abroad

Yuriy Chernyshuk, who was already working on the nuclear plant, announced in a statement on Wednesday that he had accepted Russia’s proposal to manage the nuclear site. “Yuri Chernyshuk (even) the deputy chief engineer of the plant, who worked during the war, betrayed Ukraine and sided with the enemy,” Energoatom chief Petro Kotin lamented in a statement.

“Instead of doing everything possible to liberate the plant as quickly as possible, he has decided to assist the Russian occupiers in their criminal takeover (of the site) and is now urging other employees to do the same,” the statement read. For Kotin, he added, Chernychuk “has already been fired from Energoatom and sooner or later he will have to answer for everything (for his actions) before the law and the people.”

For months, Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of bombing the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, sparking fears of a major accident. Cotten again denounced the “pressure”, “harassment” and “extortion” that he said were being applied by the Russian military on site workers. He asked the employees of the nuclear plant: “Stand your ground without selling your soul to the devil, without signing miserable” contracts “with Russia.”

The day before, a spokesman for the Russian nuclear agency Rosenergoatom, which has de facto managed the site since the Russian occupation, had confirmed that “the entire management team, including the chief engineer, his deputies and all (the holders of) key positions” voluntarily signed new contracts. Cotten replied, “That’s a cynical lie.”