Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear power company Energoatom said on Tuesday that the deputy head of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Russian-occupied Ukraine has been abducted by Russian forces and is being held in an unknown location.
In a post on messaging app Telegram, Energoatom said employee Valeriy Martynyuk was arrested on Monday. The Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Energoatom has asked Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to take “all possible measures” to assist Martynyuk’s release. The IAEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Grossi was due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
The incident came after the plant’s then head, Ihor Murashov, was arrested on 1 October. Grossi announced his release on October 3, after which the IAEA said Murashov would not be returning to his post as head of the facility.
The plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, was seized by Russia in the early days of the Ukrainian occupation but is still operated by Ukrainian authorities.
source: Noticias
