Why did Russia take over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant?
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Lviv, Ukraine (CNN) -
Russian forces have withdrawn from Chernobyl, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster, the state-owned company that oversees Ukraine's nuclear power plants said Thursday.
"It was confirmed that the occupiers, who seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and other facilities in the Exclusion Zone, marched in two columns towards the Ukrainian border with the Republic of Belarus," Energoatom said in a statement posted on Telegram.
On April 26, 1986, an explosion ripped through Chernobyl's No. 4 reactor, immediately killing 30 people.
Many others died from radiation symptoms in the years that followed.
They recover photographs from before the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl 0:45
In late February, during the first week of the war, the plant and the surrounding territory fell to Russian troops.
On Thursday, Russian troops announced their intention to leave and hand over control to Ukrainian personnel, Energoatom said.
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It also published the copy of a formal letter purportedly signed by a representative of the Russian National Guard, a representative of Russia's state nuclear power company Rosatom and a shift manager of the Chernobyl plant, with the title "The act of acceptance and transfer of protection of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant".
The letter states that "the administration of the protected facility does not make any claims in relation to the troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation."
Energoatom's Telegram statement said a small number of "rashists" – a Ukrainian slur for Russians combining the words "fascist" and "racist" – remained at the station.
“It should be noted that the information about fortifications and trenches that the Rashists built right in the Red Forest, the most polluted in the entire Exclusion Zone, was also confirmed,” Energoatom said.
Chernobyl: Russian Forces Seize Control Of Nuclear Plant, Hold Staff Hostage, Ukrainian Officials Say
"So it's not surprising that the occupants received significant doses of radiation and panicked at the first sign of illness. And it manifested itself very quickly. As a result, a near riot broke out among the military, and from there they began to collect." , continued the statement.
CNN could not immediately verify those claims.
Separately, Energoatom said there were reports that a column of Russian soldiers that had surrounded the town of Slavutych, which was built to house workers at Chernobyl, was also forming up to retreat into Belarus.
The United States is also seeing Russian forces "pulling back" from Chernobyl and north and northwest of Kyiv, a senior US defense official told reporters on Thursday.
The United States believes Russian forces have likely "abandoned Hostomel Airport," also known as Antonov International Airport, northwest of Kyiv, the official said.
Russia destroyed a radioactive waste monitoring laboratory near Chernobyl, according to the Ukrainian government
The Russian occupation of Chernobyl raised fears that security standards inside the exclusion zone could be compromised.
A week ago, Ukraine's government said Russian forces looted and destroyed a laboratory near the abandoned nuclear plant, which was used to monitor radioactive waste.
Russia has been targeting civilian infrastructure, such as power plants, during its invasion of Ukraine, according to Mason Clark, senior Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.
"This is manifesting most clearly in Mariupol, where they are very intentionally targeting water stations and power supplies and internet towers and cell phone towers and that sort of thing, and a very deliberate attempt to make make it harder for defenders to hold and try to force them to capitulate," Clark told CNN in mid-March.
CNN's Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
Chernobyl Russian invasion of Ukraine
