The parties discussed the operations of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant under occupation, as well as possible avenues for the release of Ukrainian energy workers and residents of Enerhodar. Considerable attention was also given to the issue of fabricated criminal cases under which the occupiers have sentenced employees of the ZNPP and residents of Enerhodar. Some of those convicted were subsequently transferred to pre-trial detention facilities in Crimea.
Oleksandr Korzh shared his personal account: he and his brother Serhii had been living near Enerhodar. In September 2022, Russian occupiers abducted his brother Serhii, and in December 2022, Oleksandr himself was seized. In October 2024, Serhii was unlawfully convicted and sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment on a fabricated charge of “espionage”. In March 2025, Oleksandr was released and reached Ukrainian-controlled territory. His brother Serhii, however, remains in unlawful detention at the hands of the Russian occupiers.
Ivan Samoidiuk also drew a parallel with Crimean political prisoners, noting that the occupiers intimidate people in the same manner as they do residents of Crimea, coercing them into confessing to crimes they did not commit. According to him, those who attempt to leave the occupied territory sometimes never reach their destination and go missing.
The meeting also addressed further cooperation between the Mission and the civil society organisation “Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin”.