Capture of Chernobyl
Background
The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 released large quantities of radioactive material from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant into the surrounding environment. The area in a 30 kilometres (19 mi) radius surrounding the exploded reactor was evacuated and sealed off by Soviet authorities. This area was formalised as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone; its boundaries have changed over time. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, this area became part of newly independent Ukraine and was managed by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
Background
Chernobyl is 130 kilometres (81 mi) north of Kyiv and the regional road PO2#ListofregionalroadsinUkraine) connecting Chernobyl and Kyiv is in relatively good condition, thus creating a direct strategic corridor to Kyiv, which Russian forces could exploit to capture the capital. The exclusion zone is located right on the border with Belarus, a Russian ally which allowed a military buildup in their territory. On 16 February 2022, satellite imagery showed Russian troops building pontoon bridges over rivers on the Belarusian side of the exclusion zone, the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve.
Attack and capture
At 7 a.m. on 24 February 2022, a scheduled shift change for the workers in the power plant was cancelled, the workers being informed that Russia had launched a full-out invasion of Ukraine, and that the plant was to be put on high alert. That morning, there were around 300 people within the exclusion zone, including nuclear staff, medical staff, firefighters, 169 soldiers of the 1st Nuclear Power Plant Protection Battalion) and four tourists.
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