SPECIAL REPORT - Russia turns a Ukrainian nuke city into a fortress of fear

Enerhodar becomes a ghost city after Russian occupation

Russian law enforcement agencies and Rosatom, the energy company, control civilian life

Ukrainian children are under pressure to adopt Russian values and curriculum

By Mari Saito. Polina Nikolyskaya. Anton Zverev. Marian Prysiazhniuk

ZAPORIZHZHIA (Ukraine), 28 August -

Enerhodar was named by the Soviet planners in 1970 as "the gift" of energy. For decades the southern Ukrainian town was a wealthy company town.

Power plant

The tall apartment buildings and avenues lined with trees are home to many young families and workers.

As the

Russian occupation

As the fourth year of its existence approaches, the hub which provided electricity to Ukraine has become a ghost city ruled by fear and violence. Russian troops are conducting surprise home searches, and detaining residents in an arbitrary manner. Meanwhile, some residents have disappeared into distant penal colonies.

Its original inhabitants are largely gone and their houses are being taken away. Russians have been found to be settling there.

Ukrainian children

They are taught to be loyal towards the Russian president Vladimir Putin and Russian energy state giant Rosatom.

The money from Moscow and Rosatom pours in. Nearly every aspect of life is controlled by the energy company and Russian police. Soldiers have taken up residence in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.

The changes in the city are visible. Rosatom has paid for modest renovations to schools and cultural centers. Supermarkets with Russian names now sell Russian products, and the locals are seeing unfamiliar Russian faces on otherwise empty streets.

Enerhodar, as revealed by interviews with over 50 people including residents, officials and current and former residents, and dozens of pages published by Rosatom and the occupation authorities, is becoming an atomically Russian city. It is a key element in a broader plan.

Russify Ukraine

Replace a population that may be disloyal with one who identifies with Moscow only.

"Russians force people to love themselves," said Oleg Dular, a nuclear plant manager until August 2022. "They say that if you do not love me, I will either shoot you or break your leg, arm or other body part."

The Kremlin did not respond to requests from for comments. Enerhodar's occupation administration and Rosatom have said that they are focusing on building a better future for the city. They deny that residents were violently subjugated.

The administration stated that the goal was to maintain a high standard of living to retain and attract specialists.

The Ukrainian government and Energoatom (its nuclear energy company) did not respond to questions about allegations of Russian abuse but they have previously accused Russia of torturing and coercing plant staff.

Energoatom, which was founded in 1996, is the legal owner of the nuclear plant. However it has not been able to control its operations since Enerhodar was taken over by Russian forces in the weeks following the full-scale invasion on February 20, 2022. The Russians takeover the nuclear plant

The saga of the tiger drew worldwide attention

World feared

Another disaster like Chernobyl

Putin's forces have now seized almost all of Zaporizhzhia, which he says is an integral part to Russia. As a sign of the importance of Enerhodar’s nuclear plant for the Russian occupation his top envoys have rejected the suggestion that was made by President Donald Trump earlier this year that the plant could possibly be taken over.

Managed by the United States

. The American delegation did not raise this issue when the two leaders met in Alaska last month.

The six reactors of the largest plant in Europe have all been in good condition.

Cold shutdown

Since 2024.

Former residents of Enerhodar said that while the majority of residents had left Enerhodar by now, workers at nuclear plants were prevented from leaving.

Darya Dolikova said that she thought Russia was so focused on taking over the town, because the Russians and their families constituted such a large part of the population.

She said that "each nuclear power station is different" and that Russia would have relied heavily on the Ukrainians living in Enerhodar for the operation of the plant.

RE-EDUCATION

Enerhodar children are a perfect example of Russian control. Russia has implemented a patriotism- and loyalty-centered curriculum in Ukraine's occupied territory.

Volodymyr Sukhanov, a softly spoken chess teacher who taught in Enerhodar, Russia for over 30 years, said that the curriculum brought back memories of his childhood. Sukhanov arrived in Enerhodar many decades ago as thousands of people moved there to find work and a more family-friendly life. Sukhanov, unlike his peers, was fleeing repression.

Sukhanov was a chess teacher in summer camps near Moscow. In his early 30s, the Soviet Union was on its last legs. Sukhanov, an idealist, joined his former students at demonstrations in support of democracy.

Soldiers shot dead communist hardliners in 1991 during a protest at a Moscow coup attempt.

a favorite student named Ilya Krichevsky.

The young

But the person in charge of detention was not

Russian media reported that the charges against him were dropped.

. Sukhanov has never forgotten the name of his officer:

Sergei Surovikin.

Sukhanov, devastated by the incident, decided to begin anew in Enerhodar. He moved into a small flat and began teaching chess.

Decades passed. Surovikin, who was then the commander of Russia's invasion military, commanded it in 2022.

Then upended

Sukhanov's life.

Sukhanov said, "I could not believe it." He is now 67 years old. He fled in 2022 with a bag full of clothes and a plastic folding chess board.

Sukhanov

Now rents a highrise apartment in the nearby regional city of Zaporizhzhia which is still under Ukrainian control.

Enerhodar is now a shadow of its former self. Before the war, Enerhodar had a population of 50,000. According to the occupation administration, there are now 22,000 residents.

A resident of Enerhodar who is still living in the city says that although some people were initially unhappy with their quality-of-life after Russian forces took control in 2022 but civilians now receive humanitarian aid as well as pensions. He said that the only thing that disturbs him now is Ukrainian shelling. The man refused to be identified.

Journalists did not visit Enerhodar, or the nuclear power plant

We could not independently verify the stories of residents about how the city had changed.

According to a representative of the Ukrainian Education Ministry for Enerhodar, 80% of teachers left in 2022. According to job listings, two out of three schools in Enerhodar need teachers.

In early this year, the local government published a decree that listed 100 events and measures to "counter the ideology of terror," some of which took place in schools. According to the last point, the primary goal was to instill Russian traditional values into young people.

Enerhodar's schools celebrate Russian holidays, as well as important dates such the 18th of March, the date of the annexation by Ukraine of Crimea. Online posts from schools and city administrations show that schoolchildren joined state organizations like the Youth Army and participated in competitions.

Rosatom, the company that operates the Zaporizhzhia facility, plays a role in education.

In May, Rosatom's Alexei Likhachev spoke to Russian legislators and highlighted the educational opportunities available in Enerhodar. He highlighted that a branch of Sevastopol State University (a polytechnic school) had opened in Enerhodar.

Rosenergoatom will be a reality in 2023.

Rosatom is a subsidiary

Enerhodar students began to receive summer preparation. According to the company's presentation, it offered housing and transportation for 11th-grade students to prepare them for admission into three nuclear-related universities. According to the Telegram channel of Rosatom's Enerhodar plant, Enerhodar Schools held an "Atomic Lesson", which covered Rosatom technologies and career options.

Rosatom stated in a statement that "in Enerhodar over the last three years, we have focused on raising the quality of life for the city to Russian standards."

The Russian authorities have stated their need for personnel. Rosatom said that the plant currently has 5,000 employees and they anticipate no problems increasing this number to 7,000 once the plant is fully operational. Around 11,000 people used to work there before 2022.

According to some Ukrainian parents and students interviewed, they have attempted

Home schooling is possible, but the Russian curriculum will be hard to avoid due to unreliable internet, and crackdowns on online Ukrainian courses.

Mark Komarov said that the pressure on him was extreme. He is a 15 year old boy from Enerhodar.

In the three years that he was under Russian occupation, he told his guardians that Russian soldiers and officers from Russia's Federal Security Service, also known as FSB (the Russian intelligence service), visited him and grandmother three times. They demanded to understand why he wasn't enrolled at a local high school.

On their last encounter, the officers threatened to place the boy in an orphanage, as his parents had lost custody because of substance abuse. Save Ukraine is an organization that coordinates all the efforts to save Ukraine.

Rescue of Ukrainian Children

Komarov was able to escape from occupied territories earlier this year. His grandmother was left behind.

Save Ukraine reported that 809 children had been rescued in Ukraine by late August, but said it was becoming more difficult.

The organization said that "Russian authorities actively created obstacles."

Requests for comment from the Kremlin and Russian military were not answered.

Alexander Shutikov, the director of Rosenergoatom, said that in February 2024 Rosatom had invested around 3 billion rubles (38.6 millions dollars) in Enerhodar to repair and equip schools, kindergartens, and a swimming-pool.

Sukhanov is a chess teacher in Zaporizhzhia. He gives lessons during the day to children who fled Enerhodar. He teaches on Chess.com in the evenings. Between odd jobs, he does odd jobs.

He says, "I am one of those people who enjoys working. It's important to me to stay active."

Sukhanov began experiencing heart problems last year after a Russian missile hit a tram parked near his apartment. Sukhanov isn't sure what the connection is, but he knows that after years of running he now gets easily tired. The white tee shirt, with the blue and yellow heart of Ukraine, dangles from his thin frame.

Sukhanov sometimes checks up on former students who are still living in Enerhodar. Sukhanov has noticed that even those who are the most sensitive have changed their profile pictures to scary avatars such as skulls.

He says, "I can imagine what kind of pressures these children face right now from the local Russian media, their teachers, and parents."

When asked why Russian authorities prioritise children's education he replied that the reasons were the same when he studied and then became a young teacher during the Soviet Union.

It makes it easier to control people.

FEAR AND PARANOIA

In 1978, Nataliia & Yevhen had just married in Russia when they received an offer to work at a music academy in Enerhodar.

Nataliia (69) and Yevhen (70) were both employed as musicians at the nuclear power plant, performing before visiting dignitaries.

It was like an entire city inside a larger city. Nearly every resident of Enerhodar knew someone who worked at the thermal plant or there.

The son who was born

In Soviet-era

Enerhodar, and then moved to Kyiv would mock his hometown gently as a "Soviet Resort," an old-fashioned paradise envisioned by communist architect.

In March 2022, Russian forces took over the nuclear power plant. Fearing Ukrainian troops or partisans in the woods and attacking them, the couple watched as Russian soldiers torched pine and alders planted along the Dnipro's banks.

Nataliia, who was pacing around their Kyiv apartment, said: "From that moment on, there wasn't any music, children or classes." The couple refused to reveal their last names, fearing their safety after they left the occupied territories in January.

Priority was given to the instruments by the couple. Teachers took turns to guard the school for months. In August 2022 Russian soldiers seized their keys and the school.

The couple retreated to their apartment, and concentrated on maintaining the homes that had been abandoned by neighbors.

Three former residents claim that Russian forces installed security cameras in the city and spread rumors about the tapping of phones. Denys Soldatov from Enerhodar, Ukraine, says that many people are now speaking in whispers and think their phones are constantly under surveillance. This has fueled a paranoia among the public.

Who is still in touch with people who were there

Public gatherings are prohibited. The occupation authorities demanded Russian identity documents. Yevhen, Nataliia and their parents were born in Soviet Russia but they refused to get a Russian passport.

Life is nearly impossible

They were all without exception. Then they were

The last

They said that you can get them by December 2023.

Yevhen, Nataliia and other Ukrainians who fled heard that their colleagues and friends were being beaten up or taken into "the basement", a police station cell run by officers cooperating with Russian authorities. Along with other Ukrainians, the couple and others who fled said that civilians were interrogated and held in a cell by police and intelligence agents.

Nataliia stated, "We rarely go outside." "It was too dangerous," said Nataliia.

Dudar, a manager who once supervised 680 employees at the plant (also known as the "station"), claimed that police targeted workers early on in the occupation.

Workers

Who openly resisted occupation

Russians are harsh towards their citizens

The following are the relevant authorities

He said. He said that many station employees, and workers in my department, went through the same thing, and were eventually released with broken bones, limbs and cut tendons.

Other residents of the city later said that employees who refused Rosatom contracts were treated harshly.

People who were considered hostile to the occupation authorities.

There were also those who just disappeared.

One worker, Oleksiy Brzhnyk.

The detainee was arrested in September 2022.

Last seen in a video from February 2023, when Russian forces claimed that he had been deported into territory controlled by Ukraine.

Svitlana, his wife, never heard about any charges brought against him. She has been holding out hope ever since.

. After months of silence, she was informed by freed Ukrainians that her husband could be in jail in Taganrog, in the Rostov region in Russia, which is more than 650 km away from Enerhodar.

It was impossible to reach him at Taganrog.

The relatives of

Missing or detained workers who speak of torture, interrogation, and prolonged detention.

Two people, including Brazhnyk were missing, and two others were

Those sentenced to prison colonies in Russia were sent away for years. Also spoke to five residents, who said they were tortured and detained. The office of Enerhodar’s exiled Mayor said that as of early June, Russian authorities were still holding 24 civilians, including 13 nuclear workers, in illegal detention.

Both Enerhodar and Rosatom deny any torture or coercion against residents or employees.

Rosatom responded to questions by saying that "insinuations such as these are part a deliberate campaign of discrediting Russia."

According to Energoatom the Ukrainian plant operator, around 3,000 Ukrainian workers signed contracts with Rosatom. Rosatom officials accompanied by FSB agents visited some of the engineers who refused to sign contracts. Five nuclear plant workers said that they had heard of cases where relatives were threatened with violence to get them to sign.

They could not independently verify their claims.

Rosatom plans to restart its plant once the war ends.

Ukraine has filed a criminal complaint against Shutikov the Rosenergoatom Director, accusing of him illegally setting up Russian management at the plant, forcing Ukrainian workers to work there and planning to

Disconnect your device

Ukraine's electricity grid

Rosatom, parent company of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, said that Russian management was responsible for raising standards there. It denied that employees were being coerced and stated that other regions in Russia are also potential customers.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is a non-profit organization that promotes the development of nuclear energy.

rotates experts

The plant said that it was unable to independently confirm the claims of coercion.

The Vienna-based agency reported that "despite the fact that it is a very difficult situation for everyone involved, IAEA staff report that their interactions with site personnel and the staff are professional."

A Security Service of Ukraine investigator in Zaporizhzhia referred to the law enforcement of occupied Enerhodar as a "hydra" made up of FSB agents, local police officers and Akhmat soldiers of the

Russian National Guard

. Nine former residents also said that Rosatom helped to control the city.

The occupation administration of Enerhodar said that a concentration of security forces was needed to stop Ukrainian attacks and sabotage.

The statement stated that "Zaporizhzhia's NPP and Energodar City security were strengthened in addition to the existing measures to ensure the safety of the facility and its personnel, as well as to guarantee their protection." Work to prevent sabotage had also been intensified.

As the war continues, this distinction has grown more apparent.

On June 11, videos and pictures posted on the pro Ukrainian website

Actual_Energodar is a Telegram channel.

A group of people monitors the Russian Military in the City.

soldiers

Men from the Chechen Akhmat Unit can be seen dancing and barbecuing 200 meters away. The unit did not respond to requests for comments.

On June 19

The Permanent Mission of Ukraine to Vienna has posted a video of an armed Russian soldier shooting out of a window of one of the buildings. Both videos were verified, as well as their location and presence of Russian soldiers.

Gregory Jaczko who was the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 2012 to 2014, stressed that nuclear facilities require workers with training and responsibility.

He said that the soldiers' actions were "just not appropriate". He called any plans to restart the plant "absurd" given the lack of staff, the frontline location, and the military occupation.

Dolzikova from RUSI noted that while direct damage from firearms to reactors is unlikely, other critical infrastructures could be damaged.

The IAEA has said that its team has reported

Repeated gunfire

Near the site

The IAEA stated that "our position remains unchanged": Military activity near or at a major nuclear plant is unacceptable.

During the three-year period Nataliia spent in Enerhodar under occupation, Yevhen and Nataliia claim that FSB and police officers repeatedly visited them. The couple was forced to ask their neighbors where they went and who worked for the plant.

Nataliia & Yevhen left in January. They said it was fortunate they were just musicians.

The driver informed them that checkpoint soldiers are

Turning back the workers at the plant

Their pianoforte, and their library of over 3,000 books, including many on Ukrainian culture and history, were left behind.

Rosatom sponsored renovations at the couple's music academy. According to statements from the company, it has been closed since two years. The school is looking for teachers to teach a variety instruments, including piano and guitar.

After five days, Nataliia & Yevhen arrived in Belarus. After crossing the border, and reentering Ukraine, Nataliia and Yevhen began their journey.

Rip off

Their Russian passports.

MISSING HOME

Volodymyr, now 49 years old, can remember the celebrations of the opening the first nuclear reactor, in the mid-1980s. He was a boy at the time, and he still recalls the children waving colorful balloons and tiny flags.

The family was from Novovodiane in the village to the north, where his grandfather purchased land when he returned after fighting for the Soviet Army during the Second World War. Volodymyr inherited the property and said that the entire community had helped build the foundation for the house. The community planted fruit trees and chickens and geese roamed around the land.

Volodymyr, who was born in Enerhodar, began renovating his family house by 2022. He planned to give it to his son.

Volodymyr and his 9-year-old son fled to Zaporizhzhia a few weeks after the Russian invasion. The following year, he enlisted in the army to help liberate his village.

He, like many others, thought that Russian forces would be quickly pushed back. So he sent his ex-wife and son back to an occupied city.

Volodymyr was in the front row

Trenches in the East

His unit was constantly attacked. A mortar shell exploded right next to him in September 2024. He

lost sight in his

right eye.

He is now discharged and lives in the house of a relative outside Zaporizhzhia. His return home is still a long way off.

He said, "I'm only a guest," as he smoked in the open air.

Many houses in the village he occupies have been taken over by Russian soldiers. He claimed that his house is empty because it was being renovated when the war broke out.

Residents in Enerhodar said that Russian soldiers seized the homes of Ukrainian servicemen and pro-Ukrainian officials. Around 2023.

The new authorities began posting notices about the question

Residents must register ownership. This process requires a Russian passport, and many pages of paperwork. Residents said that if the city did not take action, it would start repossession procedures.

In May

The Zaporizhzhia parliament, which is a Russian-installed legislature, adopted a new law that outlines how "ownerless" properties can be used during court proceedings. Acting Minister of Property and Land Relations of the occupation has stated that 35% of regional

Property

The property is owned by no one.

Enerhodar’s website lists 67 apartments as being repossessed.

Six residents who evacuated in 2024 or 2025 stated that Russian families are moving to the city where they shop, and their children can play outside. Several businesses, they claim, have changed ownership. Some businesses, such as Ukrainian grocery stores have Russian products and new names. According to the Russian company register, a Crimean is now running the pharmacy.

From this year

Real estate Enerhodar is a Telegram group.

Dozens of

Messages from locals who are looking to rent their homes. Residents from Yaroslavl and Volgodonsk in Russia, as well as Krasnodar, Irkutsk, and Krasnodar, were among those looking for apartments.

The mayor of the occupation administration, Maxim Pukhov, denied that Enerhodar was being replaced. He said "a significant part" of those who have recently arrived are returning citizens.

Pukhov, in a press release to the Russian Federation's Federal Assembly, said that "the share of people from other regions is very small today".

Evgeny is a Russian energy specialist who hails from the southern part of the country.

His company had signed a contract for three years with the thermal plant in June. In a telephone interview, he stated that military police are patrolling with machine guns but not bothering anyone.

Evgeny explained that during the day, the city is as usual, but at night it becomes a ghost-town. It's obvious that many residents have left the town. The city is empty."

Former workers and Rosatom officials have confirmed that Russian nuclear experts are arriving to work for long periods of time. One worker claimed to have transferred from a Russian nuclear facility located in the northwestern Murmansk Region. Rosatom's subcontractor opened a branch in Enerhodar, which employs

People including drivers, cleaners and radiation safety engineers

According to a

tender filing

From August 5,

The idea that Russians would move to Enerhodar is a very appealing one for Volodymyr the injured soldier

It is unbearable

. He's tired by

Constant bombardment

Disappointed by the promises made by foreign leaders to stand up for Ukraine

The father and his son, who is now 12 years old, remain in Enerhodar. The Russian curriculum is followed by the boy in school. Volodymyr requested that his last name be withheld for the safety of his son.

Volodymyr is worried that the boy's silence on Ukraine will not last.

Volodymyr wipes away a tear as he says: "He constantly asks me, 'When are you coming back?'

Volodymyr assures him that he will be back soon. Volodymyr tells him that when he gets home they'll go fishing on the Dnipro together, as they always did. Reporting by Mari Saito, Marian Prysiazhniuk and Anton Zverev from London; Polina Nikolovskaya in Zaporizhzhia. Anastasiia malenko contributed additional reporting. (Edited by Lori Hinnant.

(source: Reuters)