KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces blindfolded and apprehended the head of Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, Ukraine’s nuclear power serviceprovider stated Saturday, reigniting long-simmering worries over the plant’s security.
The declared kidnapping on Friday obviously took location soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin intensified his war in Ukraine and pressed it into a brand-new, unsafe stage by annexing 4 Ukrainian areas that Moscow completely or partly manages and increasing hazards of nuclear force.
In a possible effort to protected Moscow’s hold on the freshly annexed area, Russian forces took the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ihor Murashov, around 4 p.m. Friday, the Ukrainian state nuclear business Energoatom stated.
Putin on Friday signed treaties to takein the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas of Ukraine, consistingof the location around the nuclear plant.
Energoatom stated Russian soldiers stopped Murashov’s carsandtruck, blindfolded him and then took him to an concealed place.
“His detention by (Russia) threatens the security of Ukraine and Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant,” stated Energoatom President Petro Kotin, requiring the director’s instant release.
Russia did not rightaway acknowledge taking the plant director.
The International Atomic Energy Agency stated Sat