10.51 am: Near Zaporozhye, residents are not at the party
A strong wind is blowing over Marganets in southern Ukraine. It comes from the Dnipro River, from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant occupied by Russian troops, where Kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of bombing. Marganets is only thirteen kilometers away, across the river. The green hilltop town remains under Ukrainian control, but the Soviet-era railway station can be seen amidst the thickets.
“You know, if we die, it’ll happen in a second, we won’t suffer,” Anastasia, 30, wants to believe. “It’s reassuring to know that my child and family won’t suffer,” she bravely continues, continuing her shopping. The center of the industrial city, which had 50,000 inhabitants before the war, is lively and seems to contradict the alarming rumors about the condition of the power plant’s six reactors.
“I’m scared for my parents, for myself. I want to live and enjoy life,” says Ksenia, 18, while serving customers from a coffee kiosk along the main shopping street. “We’re always scared. And the information is that the situation at the plant is very tense, so it’s getting worse every second.”