Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register LVIV, Ukraine, March 31 (Reuters) – The Ukrainian state nuclear company said on Thursday that most of the Russian forces occupying the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the invasion of Ukraine had left the abandoned plant and indicated that concerns about the they had been removed. Although Russian troops seized control of Chernobyl immediately after the February 24 invasion, Ukrainian plant personnel continued to oversee the safe storage of spent fuel and to monitor the remains of the reactor that exploded in 1986, causing the car to explode. people . State-owned Energoatom said the workers had indicated earlier on Thursday that Russian forces were planning to leave the area. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Information is confirmed that the occupiers, who occupied the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and other facilities in the exclusion zone, have moved in two columns to the Ukrainian border with the Republic of Belarus,” it said in a statement. He said a small number of Russian troops remained at Chernobyl, but did not specify how many. Russian forces have also retreated from the nearby town of Slavutych, where Chernobyl workers live, he said. In a separate online post, Energoatom reported that the Russian side had formally agreed to hand over responsibility for the protection of Chernobyl to Ukraine. He shared a scan of a document setting out such an arrangement and was signed by individuals who identified him as a senior Chernobyl official, a Russian military official in charge of Chernobyl and others. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the document. There was no immediate comment from Russian authorities, who have denied that their forces have compromised nuclear facilities in Ukraine. “ALMOST A SHAKING” Energoatom said it had also confirmed reports that Russian troops had built fortifications, including trenches in the so-called Red Forest – the most radioactively contaminated part of the Chernobyl zone. As a result of the radiation concerns, “almost a riot began to break out among the soldiers,” he said in a statement, suggesting that was the reason for their unexpected departure. Ukraine has repeatedly expressed security concerns about Chernobyl and called for the withdrawal of Russian troops, whose presence has prevented the plant’s personnel from being replaced for some time. read more Earlier this week, workers at the site told Reuters that Russian soldiers had driven into the Red Forest without radiation protection, raising clouds of radioactive dust. read more The Russian Defense Ministry, when asked to comment on the accounts of Chernobyl personnel, did not respond. Earlier on Thursday, the head of Energoatom urged the UN nuclear watchdog to help ensure that Russian nuclear officials would not interfere in the operation of Chernobyl and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which is also occupied by Russians. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Pavel Polityuk. Writes Alessandra Prentice. curated by Timothy Heritage and Jonathan Oatis Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
