KAKISSIS: She says the Ukrainian company that operates the plant continues to pay staff who were forced to flee. NIKOLAEVA: (Through interpreter) Being here makes us feel like home used to be, without the armed man next to you at work. KAKISSIS: Natalia Nikolaeva was a lab technician at the plant. NATALIA NIKOLAEVA: (Non-English language spoken). On a recent morning, they listen to music and weave flowers into wreaths. Where they often meet at a community center. QUEEN: (Singing) And we'll keep on fighting til the end. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS") KAKISSIS: Some other nuclear power plant workers who managed to flee now live in the central city of Zaporizhzhia. Then they drove north through Russia until they found a safe border crossing to northeastern Ukraine. He says they drove through occupied parts of Ukraine, past heavy Russian fortifications along the front line and the ruins of the city of Mariupol. KAKISSIS: In February, German and his wife left Enerhodar with their dogs Lana and Mila in the back seat. GERMAN: (Through interpreter) I realized that if there would be a third time, it would be my last, that I would never get out of there alive. He says he was detained and tortured twice. KAKISSIS: He says Russian soldiers drove him to a windowless room where they beat him with a bat, broke his ribs, cut him with scissors and tortured him with forceps. They put a hood over my head and took me away. GERMAN: (Through interpreter) The Russian secret service said I was scaring people. German says he told his colleagues not to sign. Russian authorities started demanding Ukrainian workers sign forms to be paid in rubles, the Russian currency. After a sham referendum last fall, they were formally annexed despite international condemnation. KAKISSIS: Russia moved to make Enerhodar and other occupied areas part of Russia. I got sick of going to work with a gun pointed in my face. The Russian troops attacked people, kidnapped them, stole whatever they wanted. OLEKSII MELNYCHUK: (Through interpreter) It was also the stress of living in town. Engineer Oleksii Melnychuk, who fled last year, says it wasn't just the fear of an accident at the plant. KAKISSIS: NPR spoke to plant workers who said it felt so dangerous there that they had to escape. Russia, however, says it's Ukrainian forces attacking the plant. KAKISSIS: Ukraine has accused Russia of shelling nearby cities from the plant and also shelling the plant itself. GERMAN: (Through interpreter) And I saw evidence of shelling at work. KAKISSIS: After work, German and other plant staff went home to the city of Enerhodar, which is also occupied by Russian forces. We were told to only walk around in daylight and strictly on concrete paths. GERMAN: (Through interpreter) Also, they mined the territory around the plant. He says Russian troops parked vehicles with ammunition near the plant's machine room, as well as tankers filled with flammable liquids. KAKISSIS: More concerning, he says, was their apparent obliviousness to hazards near the nuclear plant. They smoked all the time and threw their cigarettes on the ground. GERMAN: (Through interpreter) They sunbathed in their underwear. By summer, he noticed the Russian soldiers were already treating the grounds of the plant like a barracks. He says he got used to seeing soldiers and armored personnel carriers everywhere. KAKISSIS: Russian forces kept German and other staff there to keep the plant running. GERMAN: (Through interpreter) For some reason, I thought we would be spared, that the Russians would never attack a nuclear power plant. They occupied the plant after a four-hour firefight that burned down the plant's training building. But then, in March 2022, Russian soldiers arrived. He grew up obsessed with science and machines, so he loved his job. KAKISSIS: German got a job maintaining and repairing the plant's in-reactor control systems to make sure temperatures remained stable. GERMAN: (Through interpreter) Working there always seemed like the obvious choice to me. It's near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. KAKISSIS: Their final stop was Enerhodar, the city known as the giver of energy. I remember he came home, immediately put his clothes in the trash and warned us not to approach it. GERMAN: (Through interpreter) My father was a security guard there. He was 11 years old when a reactor there blew up, causing the worst nuclear accident in history. JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Roman German says he's spent his entire life around nuclear power plants. ROMAN GERMAN: (Non-English language spoken). NPR's Joanna Kakissis spoke to plant workers who explain why Ukraine's much anticipated counteroffensive might not work there. And this has sparked waves of international panic over the potential for a nuclear accident. For the last 15 months, a large nuclear power station in central Ukraine has been occupied by Russian forces.
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