Ukrainian officials say Russian troops have withdrawn from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine after weeks of occupation.
“There are no more outsiders on the border of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant,” the Ukrainian government agency responsible for the Chernobyl exclusion zone said on its Facebook page.
Earlier yesterday, the state nuclear company Energoatom said that Russian troops had begun to withdraw from the station and other exclusion zones they had occupied since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.
Energoatom said on its Telegram site that “this morning, the invaders announced their intention to leave the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.”
#Ukraine informed IAEA today that Russian forces that had been in control of #Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant since 24 Feb have, in writing, transferred control of the NPP to Ukrainian personnel and moved convoys of troops. https://t.co/DkBXEJpDu8 pic.twitter.com/guITblxwXP
— IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) March 31, 2022
Following this, a third convoy departed from Slavutych, where many of the staff at the Sornopil nuclear plant live, and headed for Belarus. In addition, Ukraine said it still had some Russian troops at the Chornobyl NPP base, but was reportedly preparing to withdraw.
After the Russian invasion, there are fears that the radiation risks in Chernobyl will increase.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Russian forces received high levels of radiation while in the Chernobyl exemption zone, but those reports have not been confirmed.
On April 26, 1986, Chernobyl’s No. 4 nuclear reactor exploded, causing the world’s worst nuclear accident. Hundreds of lives were lost and radioactive contamination spread throughout Europe.