Capture of Chernobyl
Chernobyl capture
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"Chernobyl Battle" redirects here. Battle of Czarnobyl (Polish–Soviet War, 1920) (1920).
The 2022 Russian invasion's Kyiv attack.
Chernobyl Battle (2022).png
Post-engagement map of Russian-occupied northern Ukraine.
24-February-2022
Chernobyl-Pripyat Exclusion Zone, Ukraine
51°16′N 30°13′EC
51°16′N 30°13′E
Russian triumph, retreat
Territorial \schanges
Russia occupies Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and Nuclear Power Plant; withdraws in April 2022.
Russians
Belarus.
[1] Ukraine units
Russian Army
Russian Guard
Ukrainian Guard
Damages
169
300 Ukrainian people abducted in 2022 Russian invasion
On February 24, 2022, the Russian Armed Forces entered Ukraine from Belarus and seized the whole Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant before the end of the day.
On 7 March, it was claimed that 300 people—100 workers and 200 security guards—were imprisoned in the power plant since its capture. [7] As the Russian military abandoned the Kyiv offensive to focus on Eastern Ukraine, most Russian forces occupying the area withdrew on 31 March.
Background, attack, conquest, Russian occupation
Likewise
8 References
9.
Background
2010 Chernobyl security checkpoint.
The 1986 Chernobyl tragedy unleashed a lot of radioactive material into the environment.
Soviet authorities evacuated and sealed up a 30-kilometer (19-mile) radius around the exploding reactor.
[9]: 27
[10] The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has altered boundaries. [11] This area became part of Ukraine after the Soviet Union collapsed. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine managed [12]: p.4–5: p.49f.3. [13]
Chernobyl lies 130 kilometres (81 mi) north of Kyiv, and the regional road PO2 between them is in good shape, offering a strategic corridor that Russian forces may use to conquer the capital.
[1] Belarus, a Russian ally that permitted military buildup, borders the exclusion zone. [1] Russian forces built pontoon bridges over rivers in the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve on February 16, 2022. [14]
seize
On February 24, 2022, the power plant's shift change was canceled since Russia had invaded Ukraine and the plant was on high alert. The exclusion zone included 300 persons that morning, including nuclear staff, medical professionals, firefighters, 169 National Guard of Ukraine soldiers, and four visitors. [15]
A few hours later, Belarusian-based Russian forces entered the exclusion zone through Vilcha.
[16] They reached the power plant's management office about 14:00. The National Guard commanders and staff management negotiated a surrender with the Russian forces in the following hours, and the Ukrainian government declared that Russian forces had attacked the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. [17]
By evening, the Ukrainian authorities declared that Russian soldiers had taken Chernobyl and Pripyat.
[4] The US administration reported "reliable indications that Russian soldiers are currently keeping the workers of the Chernobyl installations hostage" after Russia took the exclusion zone. [18]
The IAEA reported "no casualties nor destruction at the industrial facility".
[19] Russia later announced "working with Ukrainians to secure" the property. [20]
Russian rule
The power plant's staff was unable to evacuate during the Russian takeover and continued operations.
[21] The staff declined repeated Russian Ministry of Defence-owned Zvezda requests to be interviewed. [15] Russian forces monitored station workers at several security checks. [22]
On 9 March 2022, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba claimed that the Chernobyl NPP's power supply was broken, it had lost power, and the diesel generator backup systems only had enough fuel to maintain cooling operations for 48 hours, therefore radiation leaks were possible.
[23] Russian military activities created a fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, raising the risk. [24] [25] Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the National Guard of Russia was conducting a "joint operation" with local workers and surrendered Ukrainian forces to ensure Chernobyl NPP containment. [26]
The IAEA expressed alarm about the scenario, however the vast amounts of water provided sufficient cooling without electricity. However, the government recognized that 210 site workers without shift changes would be overworked and stressed without electricity, which might compromise radiation safety. The IAEA also worries about communications and staff decision-making. [27] Contact was lost on March 10, 2022. [28]
Russia assaulted Slavutych, the town built to house Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant personnel, on March 18. Russia won the nine-day fight. Russian forces let some power plant personnel to escape and return home on March 20 in exchange for volunteers from outside the plant who had been arrested. [15]
Radiation risk
Reuters claimed that Russian convoys spewed radioactive dust in the Red Forest. Local workers stated Russian servicemen in those convoys were unprotected and may have injured themselves. [29] On 31 March 2022, a Ukrainian council member of the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management posted on Facebook that Russian troops were regularly removed from the Chernobyl exclusion zone and taken to the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology in Gomel, Belarus. This rumor fueled press conjecture that the soldiers had acute radiation sickness. [30] Radiation killed one Russian soldier. [31] Trenches, foxholes, and other defensive constructions in the Red Forest were posted online and in news outlets on April 6. [32] [33]
Local employees and scientists reported Russian forces stole radioactive material from laboratories.
[34]
Russian exit
Related Wikinews:
Russia leaves Chernobyl.
Ukrainian soldier raises flag in Pripyat after withdrawal, 3 April 2022.
On 29 March, Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Alexander Fomin announced a pullout of Russian personnel from the Kyiv area,[35] and on 1 April, the State Agency on Exclusion Zone Management declared that Russian troops had completely withdrawn from the Chernobyl NPP.
[36]
After Russia left, power plant personnel raised the Ukrainian flag again.
[21] "As soon as feasible," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi announced a support mission to the plant. [37] Ukrainian forces re-entered the exclusion zone on April 3. [15]
Graffiti and broken windows damaged the plant's offices after Ukrainian control. The Washington Post calculated that computers, automobiles, and radiation dosimeters cost 135 million US dollars to destroy. [38]
Reactions
Russian control of the zone was a "declaration of war against Europe," according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
[39]
"The state of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, confinement, and nuclear waste storage facilities is unclear," said Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Ukrainian president.
[40] The International Atomic Energy Agency declared that "no casualties nor devastation at the industrial site" but that it was "of fundamental importance that the safe and secure functioning of the nuclear facilities in that zone should not be impacted or disrupted in any manner". [19] [41]
Belarus-Chernobyl-Kyiv route
Russian troops heading into Kyiv may use Chernobyl as a waypoint. The exclusion zone was "essential because of where it sits... If Russian forces were approaching Kyiv from the north, Chernobyl is right there on the way," according to former US Army Europe commander Ben Hodges. Former American Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia Evelyn Farkas said that Russian soldiers "want to surround the city" and "definitely don't want loose nuclear material floating around" in event of a Ukrainian insurrection. [42] [43]
"If the occupiers' artillery strikes hit the nuclear waste storage facility, radioactive dust may cover the territories of Ukraine, Belarus and the EU countries," Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs adviser Anton Herashchenko said. The exclusion zone contains fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
[39] BBC News reported a 20-fold radiation increase to 65 μSv/h at local monitoring stations. [44] Background radiation averages 0.41 μSv/h. The cautious US radiation worker yearly exposure limit is 65 μSv/h, which would require more than a month of continuous exposure. [45] Inhaled or swallowed radioactive particles increase exposure. "Increased movement of people and vehicles in and around the Chernobyl zone [that] will have kicked up radioactive dust that's on the ground" caused the localized rise, according to Claire Corkhill of Sheffield University. [44]