Russian occupiers in temporarily occupied Enerhodar have sentenced 56-year-old Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) employee Natalia Shulha to 15 years in prison, accusing her of collaborating with Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov reports.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in southeastern Ukraine, Europe’s largest and one of the world’s top ten, has been under Russian occupation since 2022. It was captured by Russian forces during the Battle of Enerhodar in March 2022. Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency regularly reports deterioration of safety conditions at the facility. As military activities intensify in the region, the risk of an accidental or intentional nuclear disaster grows.
The Russians accused Natalia Shulha of “attempted sabotage in collusion with SBU officers.” Russians claimed that in June 2024, she allegedly tried to blow up a power line in Enerhodar to disrupt electricity in one of the city’s districts.
According to Orlov, on 12 July last year, occupation law enforcement officers abducted Natalia and took her into custody.
The mayor added that Russians are subjecting many civilians in occupied territories to illegal arrests so that “another Russian war criminal can report to Moscow about the ‘heroic’ capture of a ‘terrorist’ and justify their presence in Enerhodar.”
Earlier, ZNPP General Director Ruslan Karikov told Ukrinform that under Russian occupation, the plant’s systems are continuously deteriorating, and nuclear safety remains at a critically low level.
“Currently, the safety of ZNPP is at a very low level and continues to degrade. Periodic power outages for internal needs, operation of systems in non-design modes, poor maintenance and repair work, constant violations of nuclear legislation, lack of qualified personnel, and militarization—that is how Rosatom ‘operates’ ZNPP,” Karikov said.
He emphasized that the plant’s personnel had continued fulfilling their duties to ensure nuclear and radiation safety for as long as possible. Now, most ZNPP employees are in Ukrainian-controlled territory, working at other Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
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