According to a US Pentagon official, Russian forces have begun withdrawing from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Russian troops seized the facility, which still houses radioactive waste, on February 24, the first day of the invasion of Ukraine. The withdrawal comes a day after Moscow officials announced that Russia would scale back activities in two Ukrainian cities.
⚡️Pentagon: Russian occupiers begin withdrawal from Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
AFP, citing an unnamed US defense official, reported that Russia began withdrawing its troops from the decommissioned nuclear plant after it took control of the facility on February 24.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 30, 2022
“Chernobyl is (an) area where they’re starting to reposition some of their troops — they’re leaving, leaving the Chernobyl facility and moving to Belarus,” the Pentagon official said Wednesday, according to The Kyiv Independent.
A day earlier, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Moscow had decided to “fundamentally reduce military activities towards Kyiv and Chernihiv” in order to “enhance mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations.”
Russian troops also seized Zaporizhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, on March 4 and raised great alarm when Russian shelling set the plant ablaze.
According to the Pentagon, the Russian military has begun withdrawing its troops from Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Russian troops captured it on the first day of the invasion. Above: Ukrainian soldiers participate in pre-war tactical exercises near the plant on February 4, 2022. Getty Images
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claims that Russia is protecting the nuclear power plants.
“We have repeatedly reported to the international public that the Russian military has taken under its protection the Chernobyl and Zaporizhia nuclear power plants with the express aim of preventing terrorist attacks,” Zakharova said.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk called on Russia to pull out of Chernobyl over munitions explosion there.
“We demand that the UN Security Council take immediate action to demilitarize the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and deploy a special UN mission there to eliminate the risk of a repeat nuclear catastrophe,” she said in a March video on the Social media platform Telegram 30.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi traveled to Ukraine this week to provide “urgent technical assistance” to avert the risk of an accident at the country’s nuclear facilities. Since the beginning of the war, Grossi has expressed great concern about the safety of nuclear power plants.
Grossi’s visit was designed to initiate security support, including dispatching IAEA experts to prioritized facilities and delivering vital security items such as surveillance and emergency equipment.
“The military conflict puts Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and other radioactive material facilities in unprecedented danger. We must act urgently to ensure that they can continue to operate safely and securely, and to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident that could have serious health and environmental impacts both in Ukraine and beyond,” Grossi said .
Newsweek has reached out to the Pentagon and IAEA for comment.