KYIV (Dagbladet): While employees sought shelter when flight alarms sounded, Russian-born chief engineer Valeriy Semenov (48) stared at screens in the control room of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine.
At 4.50pm on Thursday 24 February, surveillance images showed sweeping movements in the ghost town of Prypyat, evacuated after the catastrophic 1986 nuclear accident.
– In the photos I saw one heavy vehicle after another, and lots and lots of smoke. At that moment I realized they were Russian tanks, says Semenov.
Vladimir Putin’s relentless war machine was at full speed towards Chernobyl, the site of the largest nuclear disaster in the world.
In an exclusive interview with Dagbladet, the Chernobyl chief engineer recounts how what used to be a twelve-hour shift turned into a 34-day nightmare during the Russian occupation.
It tells how close the world is truly it was another nuclear disaster in Chernobyl
And the chief engineer tells how he and the director of Chernobyl deceived the Russians in the negotiations.
His father worked in Chernobyl
Dagbladet meets Semenov, 48, outdoors in a residential area in central Kiev. He lives nearby, he says, but worried about his family’s safety, he doesn’t want Dagbladet to publish the name of the place.
Semenov is a citizen of Ukraine, but not by birth. He was born in Russia, but the family moved to northern Ukraine at an early age. His father also worked at the Chernobyl power plant, both before and after the catastrophic 1986 accident.
– We have lived through each of our crises, one might say, says Semenov.
Killed in Azovstal: – Proud
Like most of the people working at the power plant, the 48-year-old lived until recently in Slavutych, a city built for Chernobyl employees after the 1986 accident.
The city is located about 50 kilometers north-east of the power plant, but between Chernobyl and Slavutych there is a Belarusian isthmus that could be crossed by train until February 24.
Semenov was on the last train running on this route. A few hours later, Russian tanks arrived in Chernobyl.
– We were hoping they would pass by, but of course they didn’t. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Suddenly there was a crowd of Russian soldiers in the area, Semenov says.
INVASION: This image is supposed to show Russian soldiers on their way to southern Ukraine, presumably headed for, among other things, Chernobyl. The image was not verified. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense
sea View
“In shock”
Initially, Semenov observed how soldiers traveled to the area through surveillance cameras.
He saw how Russian forces aimed their guns at employees and how the 170 Ukrainian National Guard soldiers, who were guarding the area, were forced to surrender.
Together with the director of the Chernobyl plant, Semenov decided to act, looking for the Russian soldiers and their commander in chief; a general and a lieutenant.
– The director kindly asked the Russian officers what the purpose of their visit was. Then the officers replied that they had received the order to “defend the plant from Ukrainian extremists”. We treated it as an offer, which we tried to reject, says Semenov.
On the outside, they showed a confident look. Inside, they were perplexed, says the chief engineer.
– We were very nervous and shocked that we were busy.
Negotiation with the Russians
However, Semenov and the director of Chernobyl managed to establish a line to the Russian forces that may have been decisive for the 34-day occupation.
In negotiations with Russian officers, Semenov and the director wanted to achieve three things:
- May the employees of Chernobyl have been treated well.
- That Russian forces did not take control or interfere in the actual operation of the nuclear power plant.
- That the 170 Ukrainian soldiers of the National Guard should be able to remain in the facility and be used as guards.
– We immediately started a psychological war to keep control of the power plant itself, which was perhaps the most important thing, says Semenov.
– I made fun of them
The director and chief engineer explained to Russian officials that Chernobyl was not just any nuclear power plant, that a huge tragedy had occurred there and that consequently there were a series of rules related to staying in the area.
– We simply tried to scare them from doing what they wanted and applied it in a dense way. We came up with a lot of rules and said that there was strict legislation that governed everything from how we were to inform “visitors” to how many access cards we could hand out. We tricked them into rolling them, says Semenov.
Butsja: – Getting worse
They also managed to persuade Russian officers to accept that the Russian occupation forces themselves had to clean up the mess after them.
– We said we didn’t have enough cleaners. More than 60 percent of the garbage left by the soldiers was bottles of alcohol, so it didn’t take long for them to clean up on their own, Semenov says.
Not all requests from Chernobyl employees were equally respected. Just driving heavy vehicles in certain areas around the power plant can be directly dangerous to your health.
In some of the most radioactive areas in the world, Russian soldiers began digging trenches.
– Occasionally we worried if they planted something that might damage the system. In retrospect, I think they will get what they deserve for digging into radioactive soil, says Semenov.
The power went out
Although management managed to negotiate favorable conditions for its employees, given the circumstances, working conditions in Chernobyl during the 34 days of occupation were far from fair, says Semenov.
– The technical staff who worked on monitoring nuclear processes worked in 20-hour shifts, because someone always has to sit in that chair. They remained stationary even though rockets and missiles flew over us. As a manager, we were concerned about how employees would handle the situation, because he was incredibly tense, says the chief engineer.
He makes fun of Putin’s kamikaze weapons
During this period, intense fighting also took place between the Russian invasion forces and the Ukrainian defense forces in the Kiev Oblast, which extends from the Ukrainian capital and up to Chernobyl and the Belarusian border.
The fighting caused severe damage to the region’s electricity grid. For six days, Chernobyl was left without electricity from the outside, says the chief engineer.
– Those were by far the most dangerous days, says Semenov thoughtfully.
He got the diesel from the Russians
The power plant only had enough fuel to keep the diesel generators running for 14 hours, and if the power was completely cut off, the nuclear power plant could overheat.
It could have caused a chain reaction that would eventually end in a powerful explosion. In other words:
Another Chernobyl disaster.
– The risk was real, and it was the most dangerous and terrifying thing in the whole situation, says Semenov.
He and the Chernobyl director then approached the Russian officers and asked them to provide them with enough diesel to power the generators.
Drastic action after nuclear threats
– They understood the situation and were allowed to take diesel from military vehicles. In total, we took 200 tons of fuel from the Russians, Semenov says.
Then he starts laughing.
– To be honest, we wouldn’t have needed 200 tons, he adds.
As the occupants’ diesel supplies began to run out, Russian officials demanded that Chernobyl connect to the Russian electricity grid from Belarus.
At the same time, Semenov knew that the employees’ families, including his own, were without electricity in Slavutych, which is across the Dnipro River in Chernihiv County.
– We said it was fine, but then they also had to connect Slavutych to the Russian electricity grid. To our surprise, they said yes, says the chief engineer.
“Burn in hell, you bastards!”
Since Slavutych hasn’t been under Russian occupation for more than a day, Chernobyl employees felt able to resist Russian forces, at least to some extent, Semenov says.
– After all, our families were safe, says the chief engineer.
This is not the case further south in Ukraine, in Enerhodar, where the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine – and in Europe – is located. Here, Russian forces have been in control of both the nuclear power plant and surrounding towns since last spring.
– What the Russians are doing in Enerhodar and the Zaporizhzhya power plant is simply terror. Employees there must be obedient, because their families are effectively in Russian captivity. The situation is completely different, says Semenov.
In Chernobyl there was a kind of interdependence between Ukrainian nuclear workers and the Russian occupation forces. This is also why employees could take a little more freedom, Semenov believes.
“Your house is under attack!”
– I went out and smoked one night. There were also some Russian soldiers. In the sky above us, I suddenly saw Russian fighter planes firing rockets in the direction of Kiev. Without thinking about it, I yelled, “Burn in hell, you bastards!” The soldiers looked at me strangely, but somehow they let him pass, says Semenov.
Fortunately, the other employees were sane than him, says the chief engineer.
– Despite the great pressure, the enormous workload and the extremely demanding conditions, the employees kept their cool. They are extremely disciplined and responsible and have managed to avoid dangerous situations, says Semenov.
After 34 days of occupation, Russian forces left Chernobyl. When they left the area, they broke the deal they had made with Semenov and the director:
– They took National Guard soldiers as prisoners of war. Since then, no one has seen them, says Semenov.
