Ukraine’s state-owned electricity company, Energoatom, said the withdrawal from Chernobyl came after soldiers received “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. But there was no independent confirmation of this. The exchange of control came amid growing indications that the Kremlin is using the de-escalation talks in Ukraine as a cover to regroup, replenish its forces and redeploy them for an intensified attack in the east of the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia’s withdrawal from the north and center of the country was merely a military tactic to build forces for new powerful attacks in the southeast. A new round of talks between the countries was scheduled for Friday, five weeks after the conflict that left thousands dead and drove 4 million Ukrainians out of the country. “We know their intentions,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation. “We know they are moving away from those areas where we are hitting them to focus on other, very important ones, where it can be difficult for us.” “There will be battles ahead,” he added. Following an appeal by Zelensky when he addressed the Australian Parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his country would send mine-resistant armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. He said that on Friday the four-wheel drive “Bushmaster” vehicles, which were specifically requested by Zelenskyy, will be transported to Europe, but did not say how many will be delivered or when. “We are not just sending our prayers, we are sending our weapons, we are sending our ammunition, we are sending our humanitarian aid, we are sending all this, our armor, all these things and we” will send our armored vehicles, our Bushmasters as well “, Said Morrison. In the besieged strategic port of Mariupol, Russian forces blocked a convoy of 45 buses trying to evacuate people after the Russian army agreed to a limited ceasefire in the area. Only 631 people managed to get out of the city in private cars, according to the Ukrainian government. Russian forces also seized 14 tonnes of food and medical supplies on twelve buses trying to reach Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. The city was the scene of some of the worst of the war. Tens of thousands have been able to flee in recent weeks via humanitarian corridors, reducing the population from 430,000 before the war to about 100,000 last week, but other relief efforts have been thwarted by ongoing Russian attacks. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had been informed by Ukraine that Russian forces at the site of the worst nuclear disaster in the world had handed over control of the Ukrainians in writing. The last Russian troops left Chernobyl early Friday, said the Ukrainian government agency in charge of the blockade zone. Energoatom did not provide details about the condition of the soldiers who said they were exposed to radiation and did not say how many were affected. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin, and the IAEA said it was unable to confirm reports of Russian troops receiving high doses. He said he was looking for more information. Russian forces occupied the Chernobyl site in the early stages of the February 24 invasion, raising fears that they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radioactivity. The workforce at the construction site oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and the wreckage of the reactor that exploded in 1986. Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert with the US-based Association of Concerned Scientists, said it was “unlikely” a large number of troops would develop serious radioactivity, but it was impossible to know for sure without further details. He said the contaminated material was probably buried or covered with new topsoil during the Chernobyl clearing and some soldiers may have been exposed to a “hot spot” of radiation while digging. Others may have assumed they were in danger, he said. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi was in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad on Friday for talks with senior officials there on nuclear issues in Ukraine. In addition to the Chernobyl concerns, nine of Ukraine’s 15 operational reactors are currently in use, including two at the Russian – controlled facility in Zaporizhia, the IAEA said. Earlier this week, the Russians said they would significantly reduce military operations in areas around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv to boost trust between the two sides and facilitate negotiations. But on the outskirts of Kiev, Governor Oleksandr Palviuk told social media on Thursday that Russian forces had bombed Irpin and Makariv and that there had been fighting around Hostomel. Pavliuk said there had been Ukrainian counterattacks and some Russian withdrawals around the eastern suburb of Brovary. At a Ukrainian military checkpoint outside Kyiv, soldiers and officers said they did not believe Russian forces had withdrawn from the capital. “What does it mean, a significant reduction in hostilities in the Kiev and Chernihiv regions?” asked Brig. General Valeriy Embakov. “Does that mean 100 rockets will be fired instead of 200 in Kyiv or something?” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the information showed that Russia was not restricting its military operations in Ukraine, but was trying to regroup, replenish its forces and step up its attack on Donbas. “Russia has repeatedly lied about its intentions,” Stoltenberg said. At the same time, he said, the pressure continues in Kyiv and other cities and “we can expect additional offensive actions that will bring even more suffering.” Donbass is the predominantly Russian-speaking industrial area where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014. In recent days, the Kremlin, in a seeming shift in its military objectives, has said that its “main target” is now is gaining control of Donbas, which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including Mariupol. Donetsk’s top rebel leader Dennis Pushilin has ordered the formation of a rival city government for Mariupol, according to Russian state news agencies, as a sign of Russia’s intention to hold and manage the city. As the talks between Ukraine and Russia resumed via video, there seemed little faith that the two sides would resolve the conflict soon. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the conditions are not yet “ripe” for a ceasefire and that he is not ready to meet with Zelensky until the negotiators do more work, said Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi after a telephone conversation with the Russian leader. . As Western officials look for clues as to what Russia’s next move might be, a top British intelligence official has said that frustrated Russian soldiers in Ukraine are refusing to carry out orders and sabotaging their equipment and accidentally shot down their own aircraft. U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how bad the war is going because they are afraid to tell him the truth. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov said the United States was wrong and that “neither the State Department nor the Pentagon has any real information about what is happening in the Kremlin.”
Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Associated Press reporters around the world contributed to this report.
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