2023-07-06 15:32:00
“We are very tired of this tension. We have been living for almost a year and a half expecting the worst”, explains Yevguenia Tchouksina, 43 years old.
“The war taught us that the Russians are capable of anything. Nevertheless, we believe that the international community will be vigilant, that it will put pressure (on Russia) by all possible means and that the worst will not happen”, she hopes.
This worst could come from the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which bears the name of Zaporijjia but is in fact in Energodar, about fifty km to the south-west as the crow flies.
Russian troops have occupied it since March 4, 2022 and the site has already been repeatedly shot at and cut off from the electricity grid, a precarious situation which raises fears of a major nuclear accident.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian army this time warned against “the possible preparation of a provocation” by the Russians on the territory of the plant, “in the near future”.
According to her, “objects similar to explosive devices were placed on the outer roof of reactors 3 and 4”.
For its part, the Kremlin warned of a possible Ukrainian “subversive act” with “catastrophic consequences” at the plant.
Strolling with his companion in a park near the Dnieper River which crosses the big city – 720,000 inhabitants before the war – Danylo, a young entrepreneur of 27 years old, says he follows “the situation constantly”.
“We have made some preparations. We bought protective suits, respirators, shoe covers, just in case. And we follow the information closely,” he explains.
Local authorities have already carried out a simulation exercise at the end of June for the evacuation of 138,000 people living within a radius of 50 km around the atomic power plant, a distant reminder of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in northern Ukraine, in 1986 in Soviet times.
Food reserves
“I personally think that the accident will be local,” says the official, for whom these new tensions are linked to the counter-offensive led by the Ukrainian army.
The Russians “don’t need to do anything spectacular. They have to take pictures of the burning nuclear power plant […] to justify their departure” from the area “when our counter-offensive arrives at a certain place, at a certain situation”, she assures.
Since the beginning of June, in order to retake territories taken by Russian forces, Ukrainian troops have been carrying out an offensive on several fronts, in particular to the east of the nuclear power plant.
In Zaporijjia, Iryna and her husband have already planned everything in case of a nuclear incident.
“There is water at home. There are food reserves. There is an emergency suitcase that we have had for a year and a half now”, details this 52-year-old real estate agent.
“We are warned, informed. If that happens, we close all the windows and doors, we tape them. And we move away from the windows and the street during this dangerous period”, she explains.
Members of the Emergency Services set up traveling stands in the city to offer leaflets on the danger of mines but also on what to do in the event of a nuclear incident.
According to an official of the regional council, residents have also started to stock up on red wine.
“It is officially said” that an antioxidant naturally present in the drink would be likely to protect against irradiation, assures Ms. Jouk. “It can be useful”.
Lyubov, 69, who fled the city of Energodar last September, does not believe in any action by the Russians against the nuclear power plant.
”They scare us and that’s it […] They won’t do that. No, they won’t blow it up,” she said.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian army said that “tensions are decreasing” around the plant, citing “powerful work” by the Ukrainian army and diplomats as well as “our foreign partners who are putting pressure” on Russia.
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