President of Russia Vladimir Putin today signed an order requiring the Russian government to take control of Ukraine. nuclear power plant her Zaporozhye and make its facilities “federal property”.

The nuclear plant, the largest in Europe with six nuclear reactors, is under the control of the Russian military but has so far been operated by Ukrainian personnel. Its proximity to the front line heightened international fears of a nuclear holocaust.

According to Putin’s decree, a state-owned enterprise “Zaporozhye NPP” (“Zaparosskaya NPP”) should be created, which will be assigned the status of the plant’s ownership.

Earlier, the head of the Ukrainian state nuclear energy company said, Reuters reports from Kyiv, that he takes responsibility for the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and called on plant workers not to sign any documents with its Russian occupiers.

Energoatom chief Pyotr Kotin made the announcement in a video message posted on messaging app Telegram, despite Russia saying it plans to monitor the station.

The video recording of the speech followed a brief arrest by Russian troops of the head of the Ukrainian station, where Ukrainian employees still work.

“All further decisions on the operation of the plant will be made directly at the head office of Emnergoatom,” Kotin said, adding that “we will continue to work on the basis of Ukrainian legislation, within the framework of the Ukrainian energy system, within the framework of Energoatom.”

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}