35th day of war in Ukraine: Kiev says Moscow hands over Chernobyl

Energoatom, the state-owned enterprise that oversees Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, said today that Russian forces had withdrawn from Chernobylwhere the world’s worst nuclear disaster occurred in 1986. Russian forces took control of the plant from February 24, the first day Moscow launched a military campaign in Ukraine.

“Those in control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and other facilities in the restricted area have withdrawn towards the Ukraine-Belarus border,” Energoatom announced on Telegram.

According to the agency, the Russian forces had previously announced their intention to leave and let Ukrainian employees take control of the plant. Energoatom posted a copy of the letter, signed by representatives of the Russian National Guard, representatives of the Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom and the director of the Chernobyl plant’s shift, with the content of the transfer of protection rights. Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

The letter also asks that “the management of the protected establishment make no statement regarding the National Guard of the Russian Federation”.

A senior US defense official earlier said that Russian forces had withdrawn from Chernobyl and had likely “left behind at Hostomel Airport”, also known as Antonov International Airport, on the outskirts of Kiev.

Another US official said that Russian forces continued to attack in four regions of Ukraine, including the capital Kievcity Chernihiv in the north, city Izium and region Donbass in the East.

“We have seen Russian forces continue to increase the number of sorties to more than 300 in the last 24 hours,” the US official said, adding that “Kiev is under great threat from air strikes” despite Russia’s claims to have reduced the number of sorties. fighting in Kiev and the city of Chernihiv.

According to Chernihiv mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko, Russian attacks on the city are increasing. “In the last 24 hours, our hospitals received 20 injured people,” he said, adding that patients were staying in the hospital corridor because it was the safest place, away from the windows.

Meanwhile, Ukraine announced the dispatch of 45 buses to evacuate civilians from the city Mariupol after the Russian Defense Ministry announced a ceasefire in this city.

“Our mission is to open humanitarian corridors and help people survive, especially civilians, including women, children, the elderly,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

Ms. Vereshchuk said about 100,000 people are still trapped in the city, mostly women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities. Mariupol deputy mayor Sergei Orlov said that 1,500-2,000 people will be able to evacuate the city today and tomorrow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian troops are concentrated on the Donbass to prepare for new attacks, Ukraine is ready for a the war escalates in the east and will “scramble every meter” of land. According to him, negotiations with Russia are still ongoing, but only in words, with no concrete results.

Turkey said Foreign Ministers of Russia and Ukraine can meet “within a week or two” to push ahead with negotiations on ending the conflict. Russia’s RIA news agency later quoted a statement from the country’s foreign ministry as saying that Moscow would not refuse a foreign ministerial meeting with Ukraine, but stressed that any exchange must be substantive.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says more than 4 million Ukrainians have fled the country since the conflict, of which more than 2.3 million have entered neighboring Poland.

Huyen Le (According to AFP, CNN)