The former director and now chief engineer of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ihor Murashov, allegedly received a Russian passport in occupied Crimea in 2014, the Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske reported on Oct. 10.
Hromadske's investigation suggests Murashov went to Crimea in 2014, after it was illegally annexed by Russia, and got Russian passports for both himself and his family. According to Hromadske, Murashov visited Crimea several times after its occupation.
While Hromadske said the passport has since expired, the media outlet says this would not affect Murashov's Russian citizenship. It is also illegal to have dual citizenship in Ukraine.
Murashov was appointed the director of the nuclear plant a week before Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022. Russian forces occupied the plant in March 2022.
Murashov claims he refused to collaborate with Russian occupying forces, who then kidnapped him, and Hromadske notes that it has no evidence to the contrary.
While he resigned from his position as director of the plant after he was returned, Murashov now works for the nuclear plant as a chief engineer.
Murashov, who currently resides in Kyiv and works for the plant remotely, did not deny to Hromadske that he traveled to occupied Crimea, but claims that he did not personally apply for the passport and was even unaware of its existence. He further stressed that his personal allegiance is with Ukraine.
Hromadske said it has shared the findings of its investigation with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
The SBU have worked consistently to uncover collaborators and bring them to justice.
Daria Shulzhenko
(Updated: )
