Russian invaders turn area around Ukraine nuclear plant into combat zone

Judy Woodruff:

Today, the United Nations nuclear watchdog made its strongest warning yet of the possibility of a nuclear accident at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine.

Rafael Grossi said that a lack of external power and staff access to the plant make this moment critical.

Rafael Grossi, Director General, IAEA:

Let me be clear.

The shelling around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant must stop, and the nuclear safety and security protection zone agreed immediately. A nuclear power plant can never be a pawn of war. Its fate must not be decided by military means. The consequences of such action are far too grave.

Judy Woodruff:

Russia occupied Zaporizhzhia six months ago.

This week, Nick Schifrin and his team traveled to the nearby village of Nikopol and discovered that Russia has made the nuclear plant a combat zone.

Nick Schifrin:

From behind a nuclear shield, Russia strikes Nikopol's civilian targets, including what used to be Liudmyla Shyshkina's apartment. She and her son Pablo stand in the spot a Russian rocket tore through the ceiling and the walls. It stole her home and her husband; 81-year-old Anatoly was killed on the spot.

Liudmyla Shyshkina, Nikopol Resident (through translator):

He got this apartment. He was happy because he wanted to leave something for our children. He died and left nothing for his children.

Nick Schifrin:

The source of the strikes seen through Nikopol's haze just six miles away, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

A Nikopol resident provided this video, a Russian multiple-launch rocket firing from the plant. It's an almost daily barrage that's forced more than half of the city's residents to flee.

Evgeniy Sinehin is 30 years old.

Why are you leaving?

Evgeniy Sinehin, Nikopol (through translator):

We decided to leave after the shelling got close. At first, we thought it was somewhere far away and didn't pay attention. But the second night, our windows were shaking.

Nick Schifrin:

He fled with his 6-year-old son, Nikita, who keeps his most prized possessions close and his wife, Marina.

Do you think your son understands what's happening?

Marina Sinehin, Nikopol (through translator):

Our son understands everything. We're telling him about everything.

Nick Schifrin:

You said you explain everything to him. What do you mean? What do you tell him is happening?

Marina Sinehin (through translator):

Our son has to understand what's happening, because it's his history, a part of his life. If he grows up unaware of what's happening, he will just forget it and the events won't leave any trace. I want him to grow up knowing how hard we fought for our freedom.

Nick Schifrin:

The freedom that their friend Alyona lost. She was from Berdyansk. Russian troops poured into the city on the war's third week.

They park downtown and occupied. It remains under Russian control today.

Alyona, Ukraine (through translator):

A lot of soldiers came into our city. They started to kidnap everyone who refuse to cooperate with the occupants. It's horrible what is happening there.

Nick Schifrin:

They only pack their favorite essential, so they can leave in a hurry, desk lamps.

You have evacuated and you brought the frying pandemic.

(LAUGHTER)

Nick Schifrin:

What gives them comfort? A dream catcher that Marina made after the February invasion.

Have you needed the dream catcher? Have you had a lot of nightmares?

Marina Sinehin (through translator):

When the war began, we gathered our friends and made this, with the hope it would protect us.

Nick Schifrin:

But they're not the only ones under siege.

Have the Russians killed anyone at the plant? Have they tortured anyone? Have they threatened anyone?

This man is one of 4,000 Ukrainian workers that continue to operate the plant, down from 11,000. He agreed to speak to us if we kept him anonymous.

Person (through translator):

Yes, there is official information about injured employees, about the victims. Some served in the armed forces of Ukraine before. Some openly demonstrated their pro-Ukrainian position. This was enough for the Russians to trap those people in the basement and torture them over several weeks.

Nick Schifrin:

The 500 Russian soldiers occupying the plant park their military vehicles inside. The U.N. says they're blocking emergency access routes. And the worker now says the Russians are trying to provoke the remaining workers into leaving.

Person (through translator):

I think they are trying to make the plant personnel escape, in order to declare publicly to the entire world that, look, Ukraine has lost control, the operators left, so they will bring their personnel and announce that they are going to guarantee security.

Nick Schifrin:

We met him in Western Ukraine hundreds of miles from Zaporizhzhia. He was evacuating with his wife, their daughter and son and their pets.

But he feels it's his duty to return to work to help his Ukrainian colleagues who are preventing disaster.

Person (through translator):

Because there are very few people left there, and my colleagues work without days off. We must work at the plant, and we will keep working.

Nick Schifrin:

The head of Ukraine's nuclear authority, Energoatom, Petro Kotin, said workers at the plant destroyed documents before the Russians arrived.

Since taking the plant over, the Russians damaged the outgoing power lines that help provide one-fifth the country's electricity. And they have also destroyed the lines that provide incoming electricity that help prevent a meltdown. Five of the plant's reactors are shut down. The sixth is still on, but only to provide the plant power.

Right now, the plant's only source of power is one of its own reactors. Is that sustainable?

Petro Kotin, Acting President, Energoatom:

It is the first time in the history, this type of reactor is operated in such a mode.

We are lucky that this unit has operated for such a long period of time. But, again, if there will be a shutdown of this unit, after that, we will be relying only on diesel generators. And the reliability of diesel generators will be in question also.

Nick Schifrin:

That uncertainty terrifies some nuclear experts. One with decades of experience here wanting to speak to us anonymously because he's critical of the government's response.

Person (through translator):

Ukraine is not stopping the reactor. And the question is, why are the safety conditions not being met?

Nick Schifrin:

Ukraine's state nuclear authority confirms to "PBS NewsHour" it is considering shutting down the final reactor, but only when it has reliable incoming power. This expert says that's not fast enough.

Person (through translator):

If the safe operating conditions are off, the reactor plant must be shut down.

Nick Schifrin:

He warns there's a real risk that the damage so far could pale in comparison to what happens when you make a nuclear plant a combat zone.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin in Pokrov, Ukraine.