There is currently no access to heat and hot water in Russian-occupied Enerhodar, built around Europe's largest nuclear power plant, with temperatures of 10-15 degrees celsius in residential buildings, Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov said on Feb. 5.
"The situation in Enerhodar remains critical because the city actually has no heating, as the enemy does not allow any of the power units of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to be started."
According to Orlov, there are no other sources to provide centralized heating to the city's residents, 15,000 of which have remained.
Last month, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported that Russia had forced about 3,000 workers of the plant to obtain Russian passports.
The General Staff also said that Russian forces are threatening businessmen with fines and seizure of property. The Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, was reportedly taken out of circulation in the city. The number of residential premises abandoned by locals that Russian troops have taken over in the city has also increased significantly.
Russian troops have occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine since early March. They have used it as a military base to launch attacks at Ukrainian-controlled territory across the Dnipro River.
After staged referendums in September, Russia illegally annexed four Ukrainian oblasts in Ukraine, including Zaporizhzhia Oblast, that its forces only partially controlled.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on July 13 that the EU wouldn't recognize Russian passports issued to Ukrainian citizens in occupied territories.
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