Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant chief released, says IAEA head

Ihor Murashov, Director General of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant previously kidnapped by the Russians, has been released, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced on Twitter.

“I welcome the release of Ihor Murashov, Director General of #Ukraine’s #Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant; I have received confirmation that Mr Murashov has returned to his family safely,” Grossi wrote.

On 1 October, Ukraine’s nuclear energy agency Enerhoatom reported that Ihor Murashov had been kidnapped by Russian soldiers on his way from the power plant to the city of Enerhodar. “The vehicle of the Director General of the NPP was stopped, he was taken out of the car, and with his eyes blindfolded he was driven in an unknown direction. For the time being, there is no information on his fate,” Enerhoatom stated.

The agency also stated that Murashov “bears main and exclusive responsibility for the nuclear and radiation safety” of the plant, and his detention “jeopardises the safety of operation of Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant”.

Enerhoatom demanded that Russian soldiers that control the NPP and Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom personnel present at the plant immediately stopped “the acts of nuclear terrorism towards the management and personnel of the ZNPP” and released the plant’s Director General so he could “return to his responsibilities on maintaining safe operation” of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

The nuclear agency also appealed to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and Chairman of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) Tom Mitchell to “take all possible immediate actions to urgently free” Murashov.