<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Russian troops detained the director general of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and whisked him away to an unknown location, reigniting fears over the facility’s security.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ihor Murashov was arrested on his way from the nuclear facility, Europe’s largest, to the town of Enerhodar at 4pm (13:00 GMT) on Friday, Petro Kotin, head of state-owned firm Energoatom, said in a statement on Saturday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“He was taken out of the car and with his eyes blindfolded he was driven in an unknown direction. His detention by [Russia] jeopardises the safety of Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant,” Kotin said, adding there was no immediate word on Murashov’s fate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia did not comment on the arrest.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kotin said he appealed to the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, to take “all possible immediate actions to urgently free” Murashov.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The IAEA said it was informed by Russian authorities that Murashov was “temporarily detained to answer questions”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The UN agency added that “in line with its nuclear safety mandate”, it “has been actively seeking clarifications and hopes for a prompt and satisfactory resolution of this matter”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>‘Exclusive responsibility’</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Zaporizhzhia plant has been a focal point of Russia’s seven-month invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of shelling the facility, risking a nuclear disaster.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the area around the plant, which is still staffed by Ukrainians, to be demilitarised.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kotin called on Russian forces to “stop immediately the acts of nuclear terrorism towards the management and personnel” of the plant and release Murashov.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Murashov was against handing the Zaporizhzhia plant over to Rosatom – Russia’s state-run nuclear energy giant that operates Russian nuclear plants – but Energoatom’s spokespeople could not confirm this was the reason for his kidnapping.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Murashov had access to security codes, coordinated all the work at the plant, made sure protocols were being followed and reported to Kyiv, according to Energoatom’s spokespeople. Ukrainian authorities appointed him to run the plant several days before Russian troops rolled into Ukraine. Source:Aljazeera</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>