JSC Energoatom managed to preserve the personnel of Zaporizhia NPP occupied on March 3-4, 2022, and in the event of its liberation and return to Ukraine, it is ready to immediately start working, said Director General of Zaporizhia NPP Ruslan Karykov at the press conference "Three years of occupation of Zaporizhia NPP: equipment degradation and threats of nuclear and radiation safety for the world" at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Tuesday.

"As the director general, I can say that the core of the personnel has been preserved … We ensure the possibility of entering the facility and performing our duties at any time," he said.

According to the director general, most of the personnel are located in the territory controlled by Ukraine. These are about 4,000 former ZNPP employees, most of whom are employed. Another 3.2 thousand workers remained in the occupied city of Enerhodar, 2.1 thousand of whom refused to sign a contract with the Russians.

"Our personnel are working, maintaining their qualifications. We work at all sites of the company, employing people. We perform work during the repair campaigns of power units, are involved in repair and construction work on power units No. 3, 4 at Khmelnytsky NPP. The administration of the plant has been preserved," he noted.

As Karykov recalled, since the capture of the plant by Russian troops, the plant's workforce has shown its patriotic qualities and professionalism and continued to work and fulfill its duties, but under the conditions of occupation it was impossible to do this for a long time.

"Zaporizhia NPP has become a symbol of professionalism, invincibility and dedication of Ukrainian nuclear engineers to their work. Even in such conditions, the staff did not leave their places, fulfilled their duties to the last to ensure nuclear and radiation safety," the general director said.

However, when the Russian occupiers began to force Ukrainian nuclear engineers to sign contracts and receive Russian passports, the staff was forced to leave the NPP site at the risk of their lives. Currently, most of it is located on territory controlled by Ukraine.

"Zaporizhia NPP exists, the NPP continues to operate. Yes, there is no generation yet, but we are confident that the time of our victory is approaching, the time of our return to the nuclear power plant and to our homes is approaching. We are preparing for the return and know what to do after that," Karykov assured.

He also added that 308 former Zaporizhia NPP employees serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.