Russia had a network of secret agents in Ukraine, including at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, thanks to which Russian troops took over the plant without resistance, Reuters reported, citing Russian and Ukrainian sources, Novaya Gazeta. Europe reported.
The agency claims that against the background of the war, which has been going on for 5 months now, the bloodless capture of Chernobyl by Russian troops seems unusual. 169 Ukrainian National Guard soldiers defending Chernobyl surrendered less than 2 hours after the start of the Russian offensive without resistance.
The reason is that from November 2021, Russia is increasingly sending agents to Ukraine, the text claims. According to Reuters, they were supposed to establish contact with the officials responsible for the safety of Chernobyl and ensure a waiver of resistance to the takeover.
One of the key figures in the seizure of the NPP is the head of the security service, Valentin Vitter. A week after the Russian invasion, he went out on sick leave and February 24 found him at his home in Kyiv. When it became clear that a Russian column was moving towards Chernobyl, he called the commander of the National Guard and told him to “have mercy on your men”. Reuters cited the testimony of Witter, who was arrested in March and has been in pre-trial detention since then. Before that, he managed to escape to Transcarpathia, but he was discovered and arrested.
The Kremlin had hoped for the help of the agents so that it would not have to use large military force, the material said. But the plan failed because the officials Russia was working with exaggerated their influence.
Viktor Medvedchuk, who has been arrested for treason, and Oleg Tsarev, who was sentenced in absentia at the beginning of May to 12 years for publicly calling to violate the integrity of Ukraine, are believed to be key Russian agents, according to Reuters.
On July 18, President Zelensky fired his friend and head of the security services Ivan Bakanov and the chief prosecutor Irina Venediktova. The president justified the dismissals with the large number of investigations against officials for treason. 28 security officials are expected to be fired.
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