Father Husik Nurijanyan, who serves at the Saint Astvatzatzin Armenian Apostolic Church in the Zaporizhzhia region of southeastern Ukraine, told Hetq by telephone today that he heard explosions last night before Russian troops captured the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europe.

Father Husik said that Russian troops initially did not allow Ukrainian firefighters to enter the area and extinguish a fire that had broken out. They later relented.

The plant houses six nuclear energy reactors.

Father Husik said that residents were noticeably alarmed after the Russians targeted the nuclear power plant.

"Everyone, including me, thinks that if they are ready to hit the nuclear power plant, then anything can hapen. That is why most of the people, including my family, want to leave. They are being evacuated,” said Father Husik.

"We are now cooperating with the embassy and ​​the Chief Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs to provide evacuation planes and take people to Armenia. We have a lot of people here, and we do not have a direct flight from Warsaw to Yerevan now. They have to go via different cities and that is both expensive and tedious,” said the clergyman.

Fathe Husik said he’ll stay in Zaporizhzhia after getting his family to safety.

"My children are young; the smallest is six. He is afraid of hearing explosions every time. He grew up here and speaks a mix of Armenian and Russian. A few days before hearing the sound of explosions, he said, ‘I do not want to die.’ It would be right to move them from here," Father Husik told Hetq.

Armenians number some 10,000 in the Zaporizhzhia region.

For the past three days, the church has been handing out food and water to local Armenians and non-Armenians in need.

 "We have an Armenian named Hayk. He’s been baking 100 loaves of bread daily and hands them out here,” Father Husik said.

Photo from Father Husik Nurijanyan's Facebook page