around the Zaporijjia power station, the bombardments precipitate the flight of the inhabitants

IAEA inspectors are continuing their mission in the Zaporijjia region in southern Ukraine, where Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is located in the middle of a combat zone. In recent hours, Friday, September 3, the bombings have intensified, particularly in the town of Energodar, where the plant is located.

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The inhabitants of Energodar find themselves by the dozens, in this reception center, exhausted. They threw a few things in the trunk of their car, took their cats, their dogs. They lived for several months under Russian occupation, in the shadow of the power plant and the threat of a nuclear accident. But there, they are exhausted: they had to leave quickly and reach the town of Zaporijjia, about fifty kilometers as the crow flies.

“It’s madness, madness…, sighs Lyudmila, 74. We didn’t want to leave, but the shelling this time was really terrible: there were explosions everywhere…” “The town hall was affected, she continues. There were burnt cars in the streets, there was cannon fire, houses were shattered. I watched this all day and then we packed up.” Hands shaking when she speaks, Liudmila remembers the noise around. “I was petrified with horror”, she remembers.

“The situation is critical, it’s a nightmare, explains this technician from the nuclear power plant, who has worked there for 29 years and wishes to remain anonymous. There is military equipment everywhere, shards, debris. The windows are broken and there are fires on the site. Only the reactors and the turbine hall remained intact: the rest deteriorated.” “I saw the shells, the missiles, the explosions, he continues. When you hear the hiss, you rush to the ground. Impossible to know where the shots came from…”

“The Russians say it’s the Ukrainians, the Ukrainians say it’s the Russians. But you should never believe the Russians: they are the invaders.”

A plant technician

at franceinfo

Why did he finally decide to leave? “Because, he replies, they started shooting from helicopters, with mortars, cannons. We couldn’t stay put any longer. They shoot at houses and people are dead. They even shoot at hospitals and kindergartens.” There, he and the others prepare to hit the road, to kyiv.