ITV News correspondent Geraint Vincent reports on recent developments in the Ukraine war Russian forces in control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant have “transferred in writing” control of the plant to Ukrainian personnel, Ukraine has told the International Atomic Energy Agency. According to the agency, Ukraine said three escorts of Russian forces had already left the plant – which was the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history – while the rest of the troops were supposed to be preparing to leave. The IAEA added that it was in close consultation with the Ukrainian authorities to send a first aid and relief mission to Chernobyl in the coming days. A few weeks before the war, Ukrainian soldiers simulated a crisis situation in the abandoned city of Pripyat, near the Chernobyl power plant. Russian forces occupied the Chernobyl site in the early stages of the February 24 invasion, raising fears that they could cause damage or disruption that could spread radioactivity. The workforce at the construction site oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and explosive reactor debris buried in concrete. The agency said it could not confirm reports of Russian forces receiving high doses of radioactivity while in the closure zone of the now-closed plant, but was seeking further information to provide an independent assessment of the situation. Earlier on Thursday, Ukraine’s state-owned electricity company said Russian troops had begun leaving the plant after soldiers were exposed to radiation while digging trenches. Energoatom did not provide details on the status of the troops or how many were affected. The troops “panicked at the first sign of illness”, which “appeared very quickly” and began preparing to leave, Energoatom said. The reported departure came amid indications that the Kremlin is using the de-escalation talks as cover, while concentrating and replenishing its forces and commissioning them for an escalating attack in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was seeing “an accumulation of Russian forces for new strikes in Donbas and we are preparing for that.”
