
When the first armored vehicles of the Russian occupation army arrived at the heart of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on the afternoon of February 24, they encountered a Ukrainian unit tasked with protecting the facility.
In less than two hours and without an exchange of fire, 169 members of the National Guard of Ukraine surrendered their weapons. Russia seized Chernobyl, a repository of several tons of nuclear material and a key point on the corridor to Kiev. The fall of Chernobyl stands out as an anomaly in the five-month war, as a successful operation at a time when Moscow has faced resistance from strong Ukrainian during its brutal operations in different regions of this country.
Now an investigation by the Reuters news agency has revealed that Russia's success in Chernobyl was no accident, but part of a long-running Kremlin operation to infiltrate secret agents into the Ukrainian state.
Five individuals with knowledge of Kremlin preparations said war planners in President Vladimir Putin's inner circle believed that, aided by these agents, Russia would need only a small military force and a few days to force the administration Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to leave, flee or capitulate.
Through interviews with dozens of officials in Russia and Ukraine and a review of Ukrainian court documents and statements to investigators related to an investigation into the behavior of those who worked at Chernobyl, the Reuters news agency has established that this infiltration went much deeper than as is publicly accepted.
Officials interviewed include people inside Russia who were briefed on Moscow's plans as well as Ukrainian investigators tasked with tracking spies.
"In addition to the external enemy, we unfortunately have an internal enemy, and this enemy is no less dangerous," Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said in an interview.
At the time of the invasion, Mr. Danilov said, Russia had agents in Ukraine's defense, security and law enforcement sectors. He declined to name names, but said such traitors must be "neutralized" at all costs.
Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether the National Guard acted illegally by handing over its weapons to the enemy, a local official told Reuters news agency. The State Bureau of Investigation has not commented, while the National Guard defended the actions of its unit at the plant, emphasizing the dangers of conflict at a nuclear facility./ VOA