ZAPORIZHZHYA, Ukraine—Employees at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya Power Plant in Ukraine, one of the world’s largest nuclear facilities, face an impossible decision. Do they hold on to their critical jobs and work under daily bombardment, or do they risk their lives and flee to safety, despite the risk of imminent nuclear catastrophe?
The increasing attacks in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhzhya plant is located, have sparked global panic, and for good reason. Ukraine has accused Russia of shelling the city from the grounds of the plant. Ukrainian soldiers say they are firing at Russian positions in the city, but not in the direction of the plant. In an alarming warning this month, the United Nations nuclear watchdog announced that the situation at the plant had reached a “serious hour”.
Meanwhile, the workers needed to keep the plant safe and operational are caught in the crossfire of a Catch 22 for the ages.
A power plant specialist in his 40s, who chose to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of his position at the facility, told The Daily Beast that he feels compelled to remain in the city despite the danger, fearing a worse fate for their country and the world if the Ukrainians leave the city.
“I’m staying because I don’t want another Chernobyl,” he said from a humanitarian center in Enerhodar, referring to the 1986 nuclear disaster in northern Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. “The difference is that Chernobyl was six times smaller than the power plant we have now. If something happens to this one, it will be a disaster for the whole world. Work is work and I feel responsible. Ukrainians have to her job”.
The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is seen across the river from the city of Nikopol. Both cities have been under regular shelling recently from Russian forces who control the central city of Enerhodar.
Asmaa Waguih
That doesn’t mean I don’t fear for him and his family. “The place is becoming unsafe,” he said, adding that both Russian and Ukrainian intelligence forbid workers at the plant from speaking openly. “We are sending our families to safer places, but the men have to stay behind.”
But other Ukrainian workers are choosing to leave. Thirty-year-old Serhii, an engineer and electrical specialist at the plant, recently quit his job at the plant after eight years, choosing to bring his wife and daughter to Kyiv. “The shelling has gotten much worse and it is no longer safe for me and my family to stay,” Serhii told The Daily Beast.
“Some workers have worked at the plant for generations, like their parents and grandparents. They can’t imagine their life without him. But I won’t come back unless the place is free of occupation.”
Residents visiting the humanitarian center said they believed the escalation in shelling was triggered a month ago, after Ukrainian forces used a drone to target Russian military locations in areas surrounding the plant, causing some down on the Russian side.
Some residents have claimed that Russian forces at Enerhodar checkpoints are trying to convince residents to stay, referring to areas occupied by Russian forces as “liberated territories” previously under “Nazi control”.
Serhii, 30, (red shirt), an electrical engineer who worked at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, waits with his wife and baby at a humanitarian center before taking a bus with his family to Kyiv. He said he decided to quit his job for the safety of his family.
Asmaa Waguih
Any worker who chooses to leave, including Serhii, must undergo a registration process and an investigation by Russian forces on the aforementioned grounds, a process that requires up to five days of queuing at a Russian checkpoint.
Zaporizhzhya Power Station was built during the former regime of the Soviet Union. It was attacked and taken over by Russian military forces within days of the start of the war about six months ago, leaving Ukrainian personnel to continue operating the plant under Russian military guards ever since.
The village was built mainly for the power station, so most of the residents have connections to the power station. Most live in a complex of buildings built specifically for nuclear power plant workers and their families.
A Ukrainian mother leaving the city with her daughter and granddaughter told The Daily Beast that she was heading to Kyiv after nearly 30 years in Enerhodar. Her husband and son-in-law, who work at the plant, choose to stay.
Ukrainian security personnel check documents of Ukrainians as they register to enter Russian-occupied territories.
Asmaa Waguih
“It was a difficult decision for us to leave after so long,” said the woman, who worked as a teacher and requested anonymity. “I was always sure that the city would be protected because it has the nuclear power plant… [but then] I watched the Russians from my window as they shelled the city from residential buildings. When shelling and artillery shelling became frequent, we were very afraid,” he added.
At the Vasylivka checkpoint, the last checkpoint controlled by Russian forces about 60 kilometers from the city of Zaporizhzhya, “the Russians were questioning me about everything. They searched my laptop and our cell phones,” said the teacher.
An electrical engineer, who wanted to go by the alias “Alexander”, still hopes the latest bombing of the strategic nuclear city is nothing more than a strategic ploy by Russia to gain the upper hand in the conflict. “There is very little strategic benefit to bombing this place other than spreading fear,” he told The Daily Beast.
Ukrainians from different parts of the country who fled from southern Ukraine to the epicenter of the city of Zaporizhzhya.
Asmaa Waguih
The 37-year-old, who has worked at the plant for 13 years, said he was on duty when the Russians came on March 3 and took control of the plant. As the bombing intensified this month, he decided to take an unpaid “vacation” from his post at the plant, but plans to return.
“It’s risky to go back now. It’s been a long time since I sent my family,” he told The Daily Beast. “But at least this is my home.”