Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova emphasized that the seizure of the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants poses a threat of a nuclear explosion. The announcement was made at a press conference March 9 on Russia’s crimes against Ukraine.
“It could have been a second Chernobyl disaster, but with ten times worse consequences,” she said.
Venediktova stressed that the Prosecutor’s Office has already opened the case over the ecocide, and continues to document and investigate all war crimes.
In addition, the office of the Prosecutor General together with human rights experts and non-government organizations have created an evidence database where information of violations of international humanitarian law is accumulated.
Ukraine has 15 working nuclear reactors, which ordinarily produce roughly half of the country’s electricity. Zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. It is now occupied by Russian forces, as is Chernobyl (which is not in use) in northern Ukraine — the site of the worst nuclear accident in history, which took place in 1986.
By Ecocide Law Alliance
