(Kyiv) The Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom announced on Thursday that it was dismissing the new Ukrainian director of the Zaporijjia power plant (south), appointed the day before by Russia, which appropriated the site, while once again calling on employees not to not collaborate with Moscow.
On Wednesday, Yuriï Tchernichuk, who was already working in the plant, announced in a press release that he “accepts” the Russian proposal to lead this nuclear site.
“Yurii Chernichuk, (until then) deputy chief engineer of the power plant, who served during the war, betrayed Ukraine and went over to the side of the enemy,” the head of Energoatom lamented on Thursday. Petro Kotine in a press release, his first reaction on the subject.
“Instead of doing everything possible to free the plant as soon as possible, he decided to help the Russian occupiers to legalize their criminal appropriation (of the site) and is now inciting other employees to do so,” he said. he still regretted.
For Mr. Kotin, Mr. Tchernitchouk “has already been dismissed from Energoatom and sooner or later he will answer for all (his actions) before the law and before the people”.
For several months, Moscow and Kyiv have been accusing each other of bombing the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, raising fears of the occurrence of a major accident.
Mr. Kotin again denounced “the pressure”, “intimidation” and “blackmail” exerted, according to him, on the Ukrainian employees by the Russian army present on the site.
“Hold on without selling your soul to the devil, without signing miserable ‘contracts'” with Russia, “he instructed the staff at the plant.
The day before, a spokesperson for the Russian agency Rosenergoatom, which has de facto managed the site since the beginning of its occupation, had affirmed that “the entire management team, including the chief mechanic, his deputies and all ( holders of) key positions “had signed new contracts voluntarily.
“It’s a cynical lie,” reacted Mr. Kotine on Thursday.