We work inside Europe’s biggest nuclear plant crumbling under Russian occupation – we fear a mega-Chernobyl disaster

WORKERS at one of Ukraine’s major nuclear power plants have revealed their fears of a nuclear disaster. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been under Russian control since March 2022, and say a catastrophe is “waiting to happen”. ReutersRussian servicemen have been building up defence around the plant[/caption] AFPThe powerplant burned in late August[/caption] Russian Z trucks have been seen only feet away from the reactors The massive facility has been under occupation since March 2022 Shells and rockets have hit the facility – the largest in Europe – since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, heightening fears. And now Ukraine is hoping to reclaim the area where the power station is as they launch the new counteroffensive – sparking fears of a nuclear disaster. It was only last week that a power outage at Zaporizhzhia had many worried about a radiation leak. Worker Serhii told Sky News that tensions are heightened, but he knows Ukraine will not shell the station. Serhii said: “The thing is, one month and half ago there were two times less Russian troops on the power station and now there are two times more which means they are definitely preparing for the counteroffensive.” Worker Mykola said it’s a terrifying place to work, and the nuclear technicians face intimidation from the occupying Russian soldiers. He compared it to being held as a hostage in his own workplace, and the nuclear generators are not being maintained and staff is severely limited. Serhii said the situation is deteriorating, and if Russian forces continue to fortify the area, he worries of a disaster. He explained: “The level of radioactive pollution, and most importantly the area of contamination, will be thousands of square kilometres of land and sea… it would be much, much worse than Fukushima and worse than Chernobyl.” Ukraine launched its counteroffensive last week, according to President Zelensky’s most senior advisor. Mikhail Podolyak, head of the presidential office, said the operation to push Russia back to Ukraine’s borders is well under way. Speaking to Italian radio station Rai1 last week, Mr Podolyak said: “It’s an intense war on 1500km of border, but the actions have already started.” It is unclear which actions he was referring to, but Ukrainian troops are known to be attacking around the flanks of Bakhmut in an attempt to surround the city. Bakhmut was recently seized by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group thugs, after a battle which saw many Wagner members running like “rats into a trap”. Mr Podolyak added: “This is not a “single event” that will begin at a specific hour of a specific day with a solemn cutting of the red ribbon. CNNWorkers have said a disaster is waiting to happen[/caption] Trucks and tanks with Z painted on them were filmed only feet away from reactors Russian soldiers currently control the plant Not known, clear with picture deskThe roof of one of the reactor buildings was damaged in strikes[/caption] Windows of reactor building six can be seen destroyedRex ReutersThe plant formerly had over 13,000 employees – now it’s only in the hundreds[/caption] sky newsIt burned in the early days of the war in 2022[/caption] sky newsRussian forces were seen near the facility bulking up the defence[/caption]