“Zelenskyy Personally Got Involved in the Scam with Rashist Reactors”: MPs Received “Greetings” from the President for Refusing to Vote for Them

Ukrainian MPs faced pressure during the vote on purchasing Russian-made reactors for the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, while critics accused President Zelenskyy of backing the controversial deal.

The vote on purchasing Russian-made power units for the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant was accompanied by serious political pressure on members of parliament. According to Myrotvorets, this was reported by journalists from BBC News, citing representatives of the parliamentary majority.

The issue concerns the purchase of reactors manufactured by the Russian state corporation Rosatom, which were originally intended for the Bulgarian Belene Nuclear Power Plant.

“We were put through so much!”

According to one MP from Servant of the People who agreed to speak only anonymously, the voting process was accompanied by personal signals from the highest level of government.

“When the vote on the nuclear units took place, we were put through so much! They even submitted some lists to the president’s desk, and some people received ‘greetings’, like: ‘The president asked why you are not voting?’”

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not publicly commented on these statements, BBC notes.

Accusations of “schemes”

Journalist Yuriy Nikolov claims that the issue of purchasing the reactors sparked serious criticism even at an early stage.

According to him, together with the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Vitaliy Shabunin, they warned about the risks:

“Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally got involved in the scheme to purchase rashist nuclear reactors.”

“We said that this was outrageous and that it should not be done this way. And now a year has passed, and the Ukrainian service of BBC managed to obtain an anonymous quote from one of the ‘Servant of the People’ MPs.”

How the law was changed “for the reactors”

To make the purchase possible, the parliamentary Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy radically rewrote draft law No. 11392.

Initially, the document concerned the functioning of the electricity market. However, before the second reading, its text was completely replaced — effectively tailored to a specific decision on purchasing the reactors.

In February 2025, the Verkhovna Rada supported the purchase of the units from Bulgaria for the completion of the third and fourth power units at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant.

What exactly they planned to buy

The plan concerned VVER‑1000 reactors manufactured for the Bulgarian Belene Nuclear Power Plant, whose construction was halted back in 2012.

• The value of the deal was estimated at more than €600 million.

• The reactors were of Russian manufacture.

• Bulgaria had previously received them from Russia.

• In 2023, Sofia allowed negotiations with Ukraine.

However, later Bulgaria reconsidered and decided not to sell these power units.

The potential for completing the KhNPP units

At present, two power units with a total capacity of 2,000 MW are already operating at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant (commissioned in 1987 and 2004).

At the same time, unfinished facilities remain at the site:

• power unit No. 3 — about 80% complete

• power unit No. 4 — about 25% complete

It was specifically for completing these units that the Russian reactors were planned to be used.