On 28 February, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that they captured the city of Enerhodar and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.[3][4] However, the mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, denied that the city and the power plant had been captured.[5] Energoatom, the Ukrainian state enterprise which operates the plant, also denied it had been captured.[6] Local citizens later barricaded the road to the plant and the entrance to the city, forcing the Russian forces to turn back.[7][8]
On 1 March, Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces had surrounded the city, with a Russian convoy heading into Enerhodar around 2:00 pm.[9][10] According to Orlov, the city had difficulties obtaining food.[9] In the evening, a protest by local residents blocked Russian forces from entering the city.[10]
In the morning of 2 March, Orlov stated that Russian troops were again approaching the city.[11] Protestors again blocked the roads; protestors carried Ukrainian flags and used garbage trucks as part of the blockade.[12] Orlov told Ukrinform that two people were wounded when Russian soldiers allegedly threw grenades at a crowd of civilians.[13][14][15][dubious – discuss] By 6:00 pm, the protest included two hundred residents, as well as power plant workers. Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stated that the IAEA had been informed by Russian authorities that Russian forces were in control of territory around the nuclear power plant.[12]
At 11:28 pm local time on the 3 March 2022, a column of 10 Russian armored vehicles and two tanks cautiously approached the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.[16][17][18] The action commenced at 12:48 am on the 4 March when Ukrainian forces fired anti tank missiles at the tanks leading the column, and Russian forces responded with a variety of weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades.[17] Russian forces then entered the parking area near the front gate. Most of the Russian fire was directed towards the training center and main administrative building, but Russian forces also fired heavy weapons in the direction of the reactor buildings multiple times.[17] During approximately two hours of heavy fighting a fire broke out in a training facility outside of the main complex, which was extinguished by 6:20 am,[19][20] though other sections surrounding the plant sustained damage.[17] Later that day, IAEA confirmed that the safety systems of the plant had not been affected and there was no release of radioactive material.[21]
Russian forces also entered Enerhodar and took control of it.[22][23] Orlov stated that the city lost its heating supply as a result of the battle.[24]
