Human rights activists count 7 torture chambers detaining Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant staff

Prefer on Google by Volodymyr Ivanyshyn A view of the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine, on June 15, 2023. (Olga Maltseva / AFP via Getty Images) There are at least seven torture chambers holding staff of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Roman Koval, head of research at the Ukrainian human rights organization Truth Hounds, said April 22. "We counted at least seven such places in Enerhodar ... Representatives of Rosatom were involved in a campaign of pressure on the station employees to force them to sign a contract with them," Koval said in a discussion held by Media Center Ukraine. Employees at the plant face pressure to sign contracts with Russia, according to Ukraine's nuclear firm, Energoatom . Despite the danger, 2,500 refused the contract, including 15 licensed reactor operators, with many staff now in hiding. At least 78 employees of the plant are held in the torture chambers in violation of international humanitarian law, Koval said. Rosatom has directed Russian secret service agents to investigate Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant staff considered unreliable to Russia, he added. Russia has also attempted to restart the shutdown nuclear plant under the illegal management of its state-run nuclear firm, Rosatom , and connect it to the Russian energy grid, even though it would pose serious nuclear safety risks. The plant relies on cooling water from the now destroyed Kakhovka reservoir, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said. Moscow has illegally held those living in Ukraine's occupied territories, forcing civilians through filtration camps to identify those with pro-Ukrainian views and making essential services conditional on obtaining Russian citizenship. Homeowners in southern Ukraine's Mariupol are being disconnected from utilities , including electricity, and told to contact Russian-installed suppliers to resume service, where civilians are forced to provide documentation and information about the people living at the affected address, Ukraine's National Resistance Center reported March 11.