CBRN event in Ukraine on Mon 23rd February 2026

Nearly four years after Russia occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, thousands of employees have fled or gone into hiding — leaving just 22 licensed nuclear specialists where hundreds are needed to run the plant safely, a representative of Ukraine's state-run nuclear firm Energoatom said at a briefing in Kyiv organized by Legal Action Worldwide on Feb. 23. The plant, legally owned by Energoatom, once employed 159 licensed specialists — the only people authorized to directly operate the plant’s six nuclear reactors, which, prewar, provided over a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity. After Russia occupied the plant in March 2022 — the first nuclear plant to be occupied globally — more than half of the employees left, including 122 licensed operators. The staffing shortage and constant threats to employees are eroding nuclear safety at the plant, said Viacheslav Huba, chief consultant to the head of Energoatom. "This demonstrates a severe shortage of qualified personnel. For six power units, at least three licensed operators must be on shift at any given time to ensure safety," Huba said. "This is highly specialized work requiring around 10 years of training." Since 2022, Russia has attempted to restart the plant under the illegal management of its state-run nuclear firm, Rosatom, and connect it to the Russian energy grid. Restarting the plant would pose serious nuclear risks, since it relied on cooling water from the now destroyed Kakhovka reservoir, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said. According to Energoatom, employees at the plant faced pressure, sometimes physically, to sign contracts with Rosatom. Despite the risks, 2,500 refused the contract, including 15 licensed reactor operators, with many now in hiding. Russia has tortured and unlawfully detained those who refused, Huba said. In response to the unlawful detentions, Legal Action Worldwide, an NGO, submitted a complaint to the UN on behalf of 10 detained victims on Feb. 23. The organization called for their release and an independent investigation, as the fate of the plant is debated as part of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.