ZNPP may get out of control: residents of Energodar are urged to leave the city

The situation can get out of control at any moment, the mayor’s office says.

Residents of Energodar , occupied by Russian troops, are urged to leave the city. The first deputy mayor of the city, Ivan Samoydyuk, warned in a comment to “Radio.Svoboda” that control over the seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant may be lost.

“Of course, there are no open threats, but the way the station is operated, it is clear that the situation can get out of control and be critical at any moment,” Samoydyuk said.

Samoydyuk advised those who still cannot leave the occupied territory to prepare documents and collect “anxiety suitcases” and keep their cars fully fueled.

The situation at Zaporizhzhya NPP – what you need to know

The Zaporizhia NPP and the city of Energodar in the Zaporizhia Region have been under occupation since the first weeks of the full-scale war unleashed by Russia.

Since September, the NPP power units have been in a state of shutdown (five out of six power units of the ZNPP are in cold shutdown and one in hot shutdown).

On the night of June 6, the Russian occupiers blew up the previously mined dam of the Kakhovskaya HPP, as a result of which the water level in the Kakhovskaya reservoir began to drop rapidly.

Water from the reservoir is used for cooling the Zaporizhzhya NPP. The IAEA warned that the drop in the water level poses threats to the safety of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Against this background, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi agreed with IAEA Director General Raphael Grossi about his new visit to Ukraine.

Nuclear energy expert Olha Kosharna also warned that the occupiers could steal mobile pumping stations at the ZNPP, which will allow maintaining the water level after the dam is blown up.

(C)UNIAN 2023