Prosecutor’s office qualified Russia’s seizure of Chornobyl and ZNPP as an ecocide

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has launched criminal proceedings for the ecocide after Russia's seizure of the Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants.

This was stated by Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova at a press conference on March 9.

Venediktova stressed that the seizure of nuclear power plants posed a threat of a nuclear explosion.

"It could be the second Chornobyl disaster, but with ten times worse consequences. The Russian population would also be affected, but this seemed insignificant to the aggressor," she said.

Occupiers capturing nuclear power plants

ZNPP has been temporarily under the control of the occupiers since March 4. The enemy captured the Chornobyl zone on February 24 and since then, the nuclear power plant has not been able to change personnel.

Also on March 9, it became known that as a result of the actions of the Russian occupiers, the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and all its nuclear facilities there were completely blacked out. Power supply, in particular, is necessary for the constant cooling of the spent nuclear fuel storage facility. Subsequently, spare diesel generators were connected there, but they will last only 48 hours.

At the same time, the IAEA claims that the heat load in the holding pools is sufficient for storage of spent fuel and cooling without electricity.