KYIV -- The director of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant has been detained by a Russian military patrol, Enerhoatom, the state firm that runs the plant, has said.
The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has monitors at the plant, told Reuters it had contacted the Russian side and was "requesting clarification."
Plant Director Ihor Murashov was detained in the afternoon on September 30 while travelling between the plant and the town of Enerhodar.Enerhoatom said.
Murashov "was taken out of the car, and with his eyes blindfolded, he was driven in an unknown direction," the Enerhoatom statement said.
The nuclear power plant and the surrounding area have been controlled by Russian occupation forces since March. Kyiv and the IAEA have been warning of the possibility of an environmental catastrophe at the plant because of ongoing fighting in the vicinity.
Russia has rejected calls to create a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhya plant.
Last month the IAEA's board of governors passed a resolution calling on Russia to end its occupation of the plant and to "immediately cease all actions" against it and "any other nuclear facility in Ukraine." Russia and China voted against the resolution.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of shelling the plant.
Ukrainian staff continue operating the plant. Its last reactor was shut down in September because of shelling near the plant.
Murashov's "detention...jeopardizes the safety of Ukraine and Europe's largest nuclear power plant," Enerhoatom President Petro Kotin was quoted as saying.
Writing on Telegram, Kotin called on Russia to "stop immediately its acts of nuclear terrorism toward the management and personnel" of the plant and to release Murashov.
Russia did not immediately respond to the statement. The IAEA, which has monitors working at the plant, also did not respond.
