On Monday, 1 July 2024, the World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS) launched Voices of Ukraine Volume Two: Nuclear Security in Times of War in Washington DC at the Embassy of Sweden with the support of the Government of Norway.
Voices of Ukraine Volume Two: Nuclear Security in Times of War comprises extensive interviews with senior officials, competent authorities and nuclear sector workers from Ukraine. The publication contains testimonies associated with the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. These are stories of cruelty and captivity, resilience and courage.
The launch event featured esteemed speakers, including the following:
• Ambassador Urban Ahlin (Sweden), Ambassador Anniken Krutnes (Norway) and Ambassador Oksana Markarova (Ukraine)
• Mr Lars van Dassen, Executive Director, WINS
• Dr Alina Polyakova, President and CEO, Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA)
• Mr Petro Kotin, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Energoatom
• Ms Nataliia Klos, Senior Project Manager, WINS
The event was moderated by Ms Mariana Budjeryn from the Belfer Center at Harvard University.
In his remarks, Mr van Dassen said, “The trajectory of our work focuses on the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the occupation of nuclear installations in Ukraine and globally. Our knowledge of the situation in the nuclear sector in Ukraine is based on the courage of the brave women and men in Ukraine who fight, work – and are ready to speak. The book is, in essence, about two things: Russian risk-taking and recklessness on the one side and Ukraine’s continuous efforts to avert the worst. The testimony from the Ukrainian interlocutors contains many issues that are surprising, new and extremely unsettling. Ukraine is at the forefront of considering this situation and how it will affect the whole world.”
In a pre-recorded message, Petro Kotin, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Energoatom, said, “Nuclear workers, who stayed at the [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power] Plant until the last moment, were constantly subjected to blackmail, torture and intimidation. Despite these hardships, they tried to protect the nuclear facility from the worst – it is critical to unify and boost the efforts of the entire global community to step up pressure on Rosatom, who is deeply involved in occupying Ukraine’s NPPs.”
The testimony of the nuclear workers referred to by Mr Kotin can be found in Voices of Ukraine Volume Two: Nuclear Security in Times of War, which can be downloaded from the WINS Knowledge Centre.
