Ukraine accuses Russia of kidnapping nuclear plant director as thousands of Putin’s troops surrounded in Lyman

A woman holds a protest sign as she stands in front of a vandalised Russian Consulate in New York City. Getty

Eoghan Moloney

Ukraine’s nuclear power provider said on Saturday that Russian forces blindfolded and detained the head of Europe’s largest nuclear plant, hours after Moscow illegally annexed a swath of Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of the war.

The alleged kidnapping comes at a pivotal moment in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war. Facing a Ukrainian counteroffensive, Putin this week heightened threats of nuclear force and used his most aggressive, anti-Western rhetoric to date.