{"id":2223,"date":"2025-08-29T16:20:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T14:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swazidailynews.com\/?p=2223"},"modified":"2025-08-29T16:20:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T14:20:44","slug":"russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"226\" data-end=\"495\"><strong data-start=\"226\" data-end=\"251\">ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine<\/strong> \u2014 Founded in 1970, the Soviet-built city of Enerhodar was named \u201cthe gift of energy,\u201d a prosperous hub for power plant workers and their families. With leafy boulevards and towering apartment blocks, it once embodied stability and modernity.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"226\" data-end=\"495\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2224 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/d9dfe6fb-7c4d-45f3-bae9-3ad5c9d9a78b_16x9_1200x676.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"866\" height=\"487\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"497\" data-end=\"932\">Today, after nearly four years of Russian occupation, Enerhodar has become a city of silence and intimidation. Soldiers carry out sudden home raids, detain residents without explanation, and send some to faraway penal colonies. Most of the city\u2019s original population has fled, their homes seized and resettled by Russians. Children are re-educated to show loyalty to President Vladimir Putin and Russia\u2019s state energy giant, Rosatom.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"934\" data-end=\"1382\">Moscow\u2019s money and Rosatom\u2019s influence now dominate every part of daily life. The company and Russian law enforcement share control of the city, while troops remain entrenched inside the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Across Enerhodar, signs of forced transformation are everywhere: schools and cultural centers reopened under Rosatom funding, supermarkets stocked with Russian goods, unfamiliar settlers strolling through near-empty streets.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1384\" data-end=\"1708\">Interviews with more than 50 people\u2014including current and former residents and officials\u2014along with documents from occupation authorities and Rosatom, show how Enerhodar is being reshaped into a \u201cRussian atomic city.\u201d The Kremlin\u2019s broader strategy is clear: erase Ukrainian identity and replace it with loyalty to Moscow.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1710\" data-end=\"1908\">\u201cRussians, they force people to love them,\u201d said Oleg Dudar, a former nuclear plant manager who fled in 2022. \u201cThey tell you: either I shoot you, break your arm, your leg\u2014or you learn to love me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1910\" data-end=\"2095\">The Kremlin declined to answer Reuters\u2019 questions. Enerhodar\u2019s occupation administration and Rosatom insist their goal is to \u201cbuild a brighter future,\u201d rejecting claims of repression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine \u2014 Founded in 1970, the Soviet-built city of Enerhodar was named \u201cthe gift of energy,\u201d a&hellip;","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[46,81,62,48,82,49,50],"class_list":["post-2223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-future","category-world","tag-africa","tag-court","tag-crime","tag-feature","tag-finance","tag-human-interest","tag-international","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear - Eswatini Daily News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear - Eswatini Daily News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine \u2014 Founded in 1970, the Soviet-built city of Enerhodar was named \u201cthe gift of energy,\u201d a&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eswatini Daily News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-29T14:20:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eswatini Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eswatini Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eswatini Daily News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a2e7ad908f0e6606cc49214ec19776de\"},\"headline\":\"Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-29T14:20:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":288,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\",\"Court\",\"Crime\",\"Feature\",\"Finance\",\"Human Interest\",\"International\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Future\",\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/\",\"name\":\"Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear - Eswatini Daily News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-29T14:20:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a2e7ad908f0e6606cc49214ec19776de\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/2223\\\/future\\\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/\",\"name\":\"Eswatini Daily News\",\"description\":\"EDN\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a2e7ad908f0e6606cc49214ec19776de\",\"name\":\"Eswatini Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd20c640fc2b77fae5560d5aa1f54a994fbb6bda894b89c7624c9793dc7790d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd20c640fc2b77fae5560d5aa1f54a994fbb6bda894b89c7624c9793dc7790d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd20c640fc2b77fae5560d5aa1f54a994fbb6bda894b89c7624c9793dc7790d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eswatini Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\\\/edn\\\/author\\\/adekunleo\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear - Eswatini Daily News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear - Eswatini Daily News","og_description":"ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine \u2014 Founded in 1970, the Soviet-built city of Enerhodar was named \u201cthe gift of energy,\u201d a&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/","og_site_name":"Eswatini Daily News","article_published_time":"2025-08-29T14:20:44+00:00","author":"Eswatini Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eswatini Daily News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/"},"author":{"name":"Eswatini Daily News","@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/#\/schema\/person\/a2e7ad908f0e6606cc49214ec19776de"},"headline":"Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear","datePublished":"2025-08-29T14:20:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/"},"wordCount":288,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","keywords":["Africa","Court","Crime","Feature","Finance","Human Interest","International"],"articleSection":["Future","World"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/","url":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/","name":"Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear - Eswatini Daily News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2025-08-29T14:20:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/#\/schema\/person\/a2e7ad908f0e6606cc49214ec19776de"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/2223\/future\/russia-turns-a-ukrainian-nuclear-city-into-a-stronghold-of-fear\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/","name":"Eswatini Daily News","description":"EDN","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/#\/schema\/person\/a2e7ad908f0e6606cc49214ec19776de","name":"Eswatini Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd20c640fc2b77fae5560d5aa1f54a994fbb6bda894b89c7624c9793dc7790d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd20c640fc2b77fae5560d5aa1f54a994fbb6bda894b89c7624c9793dc7790d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd20c640fc2b77fae5560d5aa1f54a994fbb6bda894b89c7624c9793dc7790d7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Eswatini Daily News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn"],"url":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/author\/adekunleo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}