exclusive
At the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukrainian employees are said to have been forced to work through torture. According to research by, there are EU sanctions against the operator Rosatom Report Mainz not. The reason: dependence on Russian uranium.
The former chief technician at the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Oleg Dudar, has made serious allegations against the Russian state-owned company Rosatom. Ukrainian employees of the power plant are said to have been tortured into cooperating with the Russian occupiers. In addition, the power plant site was mined.
Given the lack of qualified personnel, the risk of a nuclear accident increases. Dudar, who lives in exile, expresses himself in ARD-Politics magazine Report Mainz in the first for the first time in front of the camera.
Forced to cooperate through torture?
Oleg Dudar has been at the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since 1986, initially as a shift manager and later as operations manager for the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. When the power plant was taken over by the Russian military in early March 2022 as part of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, he was still on duty. High-ranking representatives of Rosatom were also involved in the operation, Dudar remembers and names names.
Later, employees were said to have been brutally tortured to sign contracts with the Russian state-owned company. An employee had both kneecaps drilled out with a drill. His colleague, the block’s shift manager, the highest-ranking operational employee in the company, had an even worse situation: “The tendons on his arms and legs were cut because the Russians asked him to sign a contract.”
Harassment, beatings – the number of these cases is unbelievable. “I think the number of people who have passed through these basements is in the hundreds. These are my employees and other employees of the nuclear power plant.” Confronted with the torture allegations, Rosatom denied them Report Mainz as “unfounded”.
Nuclear accident feared
The former chief technician is now also concerned about the safety situation at the nuclear power plant. After the power plant was taken over by the Russian army, many Ukrainian employees fled. The Russian military and the Russian state-owned company Rosatom have now taken over command.
“Very few qualified employees, at least in my department, signed a contract with Rosatom and stayed at the power plant. I estimate that it is about ten percent of the workforce who worked in my department before the occupation. That is about 60 up to 70 people,” says Dudar.
According to Dudar, the employees from Russia with whom Rosatom is filling the positions do not have the necessary know-how to operate the reactor blocks safely. This increases the risk of a nuclear accident. “The Russians don’t know our operations at the power plant. If something happens, they won’t know what to do at all.”
Rosatom contradicts this. Opposite Report Mainz The Russian state-owned company explains in writing: “The nuclear power plant is currently equipped with the necessary personnel to ensure the safe operation of the power plant.” More than 4,500 people are currently employed at the facility.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Grossi, recently expressed concern about the low staffing levels at the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Before the invasion, about 11,000 people worked there.
Rosatom confirms mines Power plant site
Oleg Dudar also describes that the Russian military mined the power plant site. Before the announced visits by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), these were briefly partially removed and then immediately reinstalled.
Opposite Report Mainz Upon request, Rosatom has now confirmed the mines on the power plant site in writing. “The use of mines in the closed buffer zone is justified by the need to deter potential Ukrainian saboteurs.”
For Dudar, Rosatom is one of the most dangerous companies in the world. And if Europe continues to buy uranium from Russia, it will finance Putin’s war, explains Oleg. But so far there are no sanctions against Rosatom or uranium from Russia. Instead of sanctions, Rosatom’s business in the EU is even continuing to grow: for example in Hungary with a power plant under construction, but also in Germany. Through a French joint venture Rosatom will soon also be producing fuel rods in the fuel element factory in Lingen, Lower Saxony.
Complicated legal situation
The responsible authority for approval is the country’s Ministry of the Environment. Ironically, with a green minister. For Christian Meyer, the matter is actually clear: “Russia is one of the largest exporters of nuclear energy and is supporting the war. That’s why we should become independent of it. Both when it comes to uranium and fuel elements. There can be no cooperation there with this warmonger,” says Meyer Report Mainz.
But the question of sanctions is being negotiated at the European level. “As the state of Lower Saxony, we are the federal government’s contract administration in the nuclear licensing process. And in the process, of course, all questions of external and internal security must be examined. And that is why this will have to be examined intensively in the end.”
From the perspective of the Lower Saxony Environment Minister, there should be no risk to the security of Germany and Europe. “And in the end that will also be part of the basis for the decision as to whether to approve it or not.”
When asked about sanctions against Rosatom, a spokesman for the Foreign Office explains: “The Federal Government continues to advocate sanctions against the civil-nuclear sector in Russia within the EU framework, also in order to reduce Russian state revenue.” However, new sanctions can only be negotiated at the European level and must be decided unanimously by the EU member states.
MEPs demand embargo on Russian uranium
After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the EU Parliament voted with a large majority in a resolution in 2022 for an immediate embargo of Russian uranium. But so far the demand has failed due to resistance from individual member states.
Andrius Kubilius from Lithuania is a member of the European Parliament in the European People’s Party group and is critical of Report Mainz especially Hungary’s blockade stance. “There are EU states like Hungary that are currently building new Rosatom nuclear power plants, so they don’t want sanctions,” he explains in an interview.
The Luxembourg MEP Isabel Wiseler-Lima – like Kubilius, a Christian Democrat – emphasizes that there is another way: “There are also countries that have done what needs to be done. Sweden has gone to zero, even though it is the largest importer of Russian “Uranium was. And Finland withdrew a contract for a Russian nuclear power plant.”
You can see more about this and other topics today at 9:45 p.m. on Report Mainz on Erste.