logo
Russians illegally detain 13 workers of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Russians illegally detain 13 workers of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Yahoo13-05-2025

Energoatom, Ukraine's state-owned nuclear energy operator, has reported that the Russians are holding at least 13 employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant hostage.
Source: Energoatom on Telegram
Details: It is noted that since the beginning of the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which is also Europe's largest power plant, Russia has begun unprecedented pressure on nuclear workers who refused to switch sides and sign worthless contracts with Rosatom, Russia's state-run nuclear power company.
About 5,000 specialists were able to leave the temporarily occupied city of Enerhodar where the ZNPP is located, and Energoatom is taking care of their employment in other divisions of the company. However, at least 13 ZNPP employees are known to have been deprived of their freedom by the Russians in the temporarily occupied territory.
Seven of them have been "sentenced" to imprisonment, and three are still in prison awaiting fake verdicts. The fate of three more remains unknown – they are considered missing.
In addition, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia tortured to death ZNPP diver Andrii Honcharuk.
The Russians continue to use the ZNPP as a military base. Military vehicles are parked in the machine halls of the power units, and explosive weapons are stored there. Energoatom emphasised that the plant's equipment was deteriorating, and there could be no question of a safe restart of the ZNPP.
Quote: "All illegally detained nuclear workers must be immediately released from Russian captivity.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant must immediately be transferred to the control of its legal operator, Energoatom, and Russia must withdraw its military personnel and military equipment from the plant. This is the only way to restore nuclear and radiation safety across the entire continent!"
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Putin raises the stakes on ‘ghost fleet' security, as NATO launches war games in the Baltic Sea
Putin raises the stakes on ‘ghost fleet' security, as NATO launches war games in the Baltic Sea

Yahoo

time24 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Putin raises the stakes on ‘ghost fleet' security, as NATO launches war games in the Baltic Sea

NATO navies are putting on a display of maritime might in the Baltic Sea this month, as thousands of personnel from 17 countries aboard 50 vessels take part in war games led by the U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet. Of the nine countries that share a Baltic Sea coastline, only Russia is not a NATO member, and June's BALTOPS exercise aims to ensure those other countries can work together to defend the area, at a time when Moscow is turning up the heat. "This year's BALTOPS is more than just an exercise," said U.S. Vice Admiral J.T. Anderson in a press release this week. "It's a visible demonstration of our Alliance's resolve, adaptability and maritime strength." Over the last year there's been growing disquiet about Russia's malign influence in the Baltic Sea region, with several incidents of severed undersea cables. Suspicion has fallen on Russia's fleet of so-called "ghost" or "shadow" ships: hundreds of aging vessels, mostly oil tankers flying under foreign flags that are used to circumvent Western sanctions or trade in military hardware. Estonian Spy Chief Discusses Countering Threats From Russia There are also well-founded concerns that some of these ships are used for covert intelligence gathering, communication intercepts or to sabotage undersea infrastructure like internet cables or gas and electricity pipelines. Three crew members from a Cook Islands-registered vessel, believed to be part of Russia's ghost fleet, are currently facing charges in Finland over damage to an undersea cable that prosecutors say happened when the ship dragged its anchor for 60 miles along the floor of the Baltic Sea. Read On The Fox News App "There's a growing importance of the shadow fleet to Russia's wartime economy, and a growing awareness that NATO needs to stop it," Tony Lawrence, a naval expert and researcher at the International Centre for Defence and Security in Estonia, told Fox News Digital. But after a number of NATO navies adopted a tougher stance against the ghost ships through stop-and-search tactics, the Russians announced they would use their own navy to escort the fleet through the Baltic Sea. "The Russian military presence in the region has always been visible, this is not a new feature. However, what is new is that Russia is protecting its shadow fleet tankers in the narrow pass of the Gulf of Finland," Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said in a recent television interview with Finland's YLE TV. NATO governments are keeping a close eye on the latest Baltic Sea developments and preparing for any possible increase in tensions. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen spoke at a meeting of NATO's Nordic and Baltic members this week, and described the Russian threat as real and serious. "We see a more aggressive Russian approach in the Baltic Sea region," she told reporters. The Baltic Sea has relatively narrow waterways, where international maritime boundaries extend 12 miles from the coast, and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) incorporate valuable fishing grounds or offshore wind farms. Add to this some of the busiest ferry routes in the world, commercial shipping traffic, military warships and civilian craft, and it raises the possibility that a more robust Russian naval posture in the area could increase the possibility of conflict. "This is the risk of having more warships floating around the Baltic Sea, there is a potential for miscalculations that could escalate, and risk-reduction mechanisms that used to exist don't work any more because the [NATO and Russian] navies aren't talking to each other anymore," Lawrence told Fox News Digital. Baltic Sea Nations Voice Concern As Russia Considers Revising Maritime Border Does the Russian navy even have the capacity to escort every single ghost fleet ship in the Baltic? That seems unlikely, according to some. "It's an escalation, of course, of Russian misbehavior in the Baltic Sea. But in practical terms I'm not sure it's going to make that much difference," Lawrence said. "Russia's Baltic Sea fleet has always been the junior cousin of the Russian navy, and it's never been particularly well-equipped or enlarged, but it's still the biggest national navy operating in the Baltic, and they have ships that are attuned to the Baltic Sea, which is shallow, and its salinity is such that you need special kinds of sensors. And they know how to hide ships in the archipelagos of Sweden or Finland, so in that regard, they have a certain amount of specialist capability," Lawrence explained. The Baltic Sea war games this month – with the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Paul Ignatius and the Blue Ridge-class command and control ship USS Mount Whitney taking part – serve to remind the Russians of the power of NATO's combined naval assets in the region. And some of the smaller navies will be reassured by the presence of the American warships. A few weeks ago, Estonia's navy brought one suspected shadow fleet ship into its territorial waters for an inspection, and it complied. But when the Estonians tried the same tactic for a second time, the ship refused to stop and wouldn't come into port. "That makes things more difficult for other nations because the shadow fleet is learning that it can just ignore what NATO navies do and there's little that NATO can do in that situation, especially if there are Russian ships escorting the shadow fleet," said Lawrence. "But I don't think NATO nations are going to back down. They will still follow and challenge these shadow fleet ships, or even look at other legislation, like requiring proof of insurance, to stop them from transiting the Baltic Sea."Original article source: Putin raises the stakes on 'ghost fleet' security, as NATO launches war games in the Baltic Sea

Zelensky looking to meet with Trump at G7
Zelensky looking to meet with Trump at G7

Yahoo

time25 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Zelensky looking to meet with Trump at G7

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is looking to meet with President Trump at an upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit, according to his office. Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that Trump and Zelensky will have a meeting amid the summit in Canada, according to a Friday article on Zelensky's official website. The article stated that the comments came amid the United News telethon, which the Kyiv Independent has described as the largest television channel in the country's merger of coverage. In the first few months of his second term, Trump and his administration have pushed for an end to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Last weekend, Ukraine struck one of its most harmful blows in its war against Russia, using smuggled drones to target bombers far into Russian territory. In a thread on the social media platform X last Sunday, Zelensky said, 'a brilliant operation was carried out — on enemy territory' that day. 'The preparation took over a year and a half. Planning, organi[z]ation, every detail was perfectly executed. It can be said with confidence that this was an absolutely unique operation,' Zelensky wrote about the attack. Back in February, Zelensky, Trump and Vice President Vance all had a rocky meeting in the Oval Office that devolved into shouting and finger-pointing. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Trump's CIA director details strategy using Mandarin videos to tap Chinese dissent for intelligence gains
Trump's CIA director details strategy using Mandarin videos to tap Chinese dissent for intelligence gains

Yahoo

time25 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Trump's CIA director details strategy using Mandarin videos to tap Chinese dissent for intelligence gains

CIA Director John Ratcliffe detailed the reasoning behind the agency's strategy of releasing two Mandarin-language videos aimed at encouraging Chinese nationals to reach out through the dark web, part of a broader effort to gather intelligence from inside America's top adversary. In an interview on "My View with Lara Trump," Ratcliffe said the initiative was designed to tap into dissatisfaction among Chinese citizens and collect key information on the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] and its operations. "We released two Mandarin-speaking videos to the Chinese people, inviting them to contact us through the dark web because a lot of the people in China are not happy with what's happening," he shared on Saturday. Cia Videos Aim To Turn Chinese Officials And 'Steal Secrets' "They can be great sources of intelligence for us." The campaign was part of a larger strategy to counter threats from foreign and domestic adversaries and bolster U.S. leverage in high-stakes negotiations, including President Donald Trump's efforts to secure deals with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Read On The Fox News App Cia Director Says China Is #1 Priority, Poses Biggest Challenge From Adversary In Us History Ratcliffe also emphasized his commitment to depoliticizing the CIA and returning the agency to its core mission of intelligence-gathering – not political interference. He cited the use of the Steele dossier and attitudes that dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop as "Russian disinformation" as evidence. "Those were the types of politicization that really tarnish what the intelligence community is supposed to do," he said. "We're supposed to be apolitical, and that's what President Trump wants me to be. We're going to be better. We're gonna get back to what made the CIA great."Original article source: Trump's CIA director details strategy using Mandarin videos to tap Chinese dissent for intelligence gains

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store