During the Russian occupation, employees of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant also found themselves stealing fuel from the occupants to prevent the electricity from going out. The same employees tell a BBC journalist, who is among the first reporters to enter the facility since the Russian troops left. When the plant went without electricity for three days, engineer Valeriy Semonov says he went out of his way to find fuel to allow the generator to continue running, until he was forced to steal some from the Russians. “Without electricity, it could have been catastrophic,” explains Oleksandr Lobada, security supervisor. “It could happen that radioactive material was released,” he adds.
The 170 employees of the plant, who were kidnapped by the Russian forces that surrounded the plant since February 24, continued to do their work during those days, and said they were also constantly questioned by the Russians. “They wanted to know how the facility was being managed. They wanted information on all procedures, documents and operations. I was afraid because the discussions were constant, and sometimes hard, ”explains Lobada. And he adds: “We had to continually negotiate with them, and try hard not to offend them, so as to allow our staff to manage the plant.”