The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said it can not confirm the allegations of Ukrainian state-owned energy company Energoatom and is calling for an independent assessment. Energoatom said the Russians had dug trenches in the forest inside the exclusion zone at the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster and that troops “panicked at the first sign of illness” that “appeared very quickly” and began preparing to leave. Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk also claimed that Russian troops digging trenches in the forest were exposed to radiation, but has not been verified by independents. Some reports say the soldiers were sent to a special medical unit in Belarus after driving tanks through the “dead zone” around the nuclear plant, spewing radioactive dust. Russian forces also withdrew from the nearby town of Slavutych, where Chernobyl workers live, Energoatom said. The IAEA said it was preparing to send its first “aid and support mission” to Chernobyl in northern Ukraine in the coming days. Although Russian troops seized control of Chernobyl shortly after the February 24 invasion, Ukrainian plant personnel continued to oversee the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel and the remains of the reactor that exploded in the 1986 explosion. . In a separate post, Energoatom reported that the Russian side had formally agreed to hand over responsibility for the protection of Chernobyl to Ukraine. He shared the scan of a document signed by individuals he identified as a senior Chernobyl officer and a Russian military official who had taken over Chernobyl custody. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the document. Ukraine has repeatedly expressed security concerns about Chernobyl and called for the withdrawal of Russian troops, whose presence has prevented staff changes for some time. The Russian Defense Ministry, when asked to comment on the accounts of Chernobyl personnel, did not respond.
