The escalating attacks on the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, home to the Zaporizhzhya plant, have sparked global panic—and for good reason. Ukraine accused Russia of shelling the city from the factory. Ukrainian soldiers say they are firing at Russian positions in the city, but not in the direction of the factory. In an alarming warning this month, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said the situation at the plant had reached a “critical hour”. Meanwhile, the workers needed to keep the plant safe and operational have been caught in the crossfire of a Catch 22 for too long. An expert in his 40s at the plant, who chose to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of his position at the facility, told The Daily Beast he felt compelled to stay in the city despite the danger, fearing a worse fate for his country and the world should Ukrainians to leave the city. “I’m staying because I don’t want another Chernobyl,” he said from a humanitarian center in Enerhodar, referring to the 1986 nuclear disaster in northern Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union at the time. “The difference is that Chernobyl was six times smaller than the power plant we have now. If anything happens to him, it will be a disaster for the whole world. Work is work and I feel responsible. Ukrainians must do their job.” The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant as seen across the river from the town of Nikopol. The two cities have been regularly shelled recently by Russian forces who control the power plant in the town of Enerhodar.
Asmaa Waguih
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t fear for himself and his family. “The place is becoming unsafe,” he said, adding that both Russian intelligence and Ukrainian secret services were barring factory workers from speaking out. “We are sending our families to safer places, but the men must stay behind.” But other Ukrainian workers are choosing to leave. Serhii, 30, an engineer and electrical specialist at the factory, recently quit his job at the factory after eight years, choosing to take his wife and daughter to Kyiv. “The shelling has gotten much worse and it is no longer safe for me and my family to stay,” Serhii told The Daily Beast. “Some workers have worked in the factory for generations, like their fathers and grandfathers. They cannot imagine their life without it. But I will not return unless the place is free from occupation.” Residents who visited the humanitarian center said they believed the escalating shelling was triggered a month ago – after Ukrainian forces used drones to target Russian military sites in the areas around the plant, causing casualties on the Russian side. Some residents claimed that Russian forces at the Enerhodar checkpoints are trying to persuade residents to stay, referring to areas taken by Russian forces as “liberated territories” previously under “Nazi control”. Serhii, 30, (red shirt) an electrical engineer who worked at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, waited with his wife and baby at a humanitarian center before taking the bus with his family to Kyiv. He said he decided to quit his job for the safety of his family.
Asmaa Waguih
Any workers who choose to leave, including Serhii, must undergo a registration process and search by Russian forces for the reasons cited — a process that takes up to five days of queuing at a Russian checkpoint. Zaporizhzhya Power Station was built during the former regime of the Soviet Union. It was attacked and occupied by Russian military forces within days of the start of the war about six months ago, leaving Ukrainian personnel to continue operating the plant under Russian military guards ever since. The town was built primarily for the power station, so the majority of residents have connections to the plant. Most live in a complex of buildings built specifically for nuclear plant workers and their families. A Ukrainian mother on her way out of town with her daughter and granddaughter told the Daily Beast she was heading to Kyiv after nearly 30 years in Enerhodar. Her husband and son-in-law, who work at the factory, choose to stay. Ukrainian security personnel check documents from Ukrainians as they register to enter Russian-occupied territories.
Asmaa Waguih
“It was a difficult decision for us to leave after so long,” said the woman, who worked as a teacher and asked to remain anonymous. “I was always sure that the city would be protected because it has the nuclear power plant… [but then] I saw the Russians from my window as they shelled the city from residential buildings. When the shelling and shelling became frequent, we were very scared,” he added. At the Vasylivka checkpoint, the last checkpoint controlled by Russian forces, about 60 kilometers from the city of Zaporizhzhya, “the Russians questioned me about everything. They searched my laptop and our mobile phones,” said the teacher. An electrical engineer, who wanted to use the pseudonym “Alexander”, still hopes the latest bombing of the strategic nuclear city is nothing more than a fear-mongering ploy by Russia to gain the upper hand in the conflict. “There is very little strategic benefit to bombing this place other than spreading fear,” he told the Daily Beast. Ukrainians from various regions of the country who fled from the southern parts of Ukraine to the central city of Zaporizhia.
Asmaa Waguih
The 37-year-old, who has worked at the factory for 13 years, said he was on duty when the Russians came on March 3 and took control of the factory. As the shelling intensified this month, he decided to take “unpaid leave” from his position at the factory, but plans to return. “It is dangerous now to go back. I already sent my family away a while ago,” he told the Daily Beast. “But at least this is my home.”
