Who controls Chernobyl?
Michael Gray
Updated on May 09, 2026
Russian forces transferred control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant back to Ukrainian authorities, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom and plant workers—who said the departing troops also had taken more than 100 Ukrainian national guardsmen away in ...
Who has control of Chernobyl now?
The former nuclear power plant at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine was taken over by Russian forces on the first day of the invasion. It's now back under Ukraine's control. The BBC's Yogita Limaye is among the first journalists to look inside it since the Russians left.Is Ukraine in control of Chernobyl?
Following the departure of the Russian forces, the site and its surroundings are being checked for safety, and the radiation situation assessed, Ukraine says.What did Russia do to Chernobyl?
On the first day of Russia's violent invasion of Ukraine, its military forces overran the plant and held several staff members of the Chernobyl facilities hostage, Ukrainian authorities said. The attack was by no means unanticipated.Was the Soviet Union responsible for Chernobyl?
On the last weekend in April, a cloud of radioactive material blew across Scandinavia. The culprit was a reactor at one of the Soviet Union's largest nuclear power stations, at Chernobyl. The catastrophe did not burst into the headlines all at once, as catastrophes generally do in the Western world.Ukraine Crisis: Russian troops take control of Chernobyl nuclear plant
Are Russian troops still in Chernobyl?
Rumors of radioactive poisoning spreadUkrainian servicemen patrol the Chernobyl nuclear plant on April 5, 2022. Russia withdrew from the site just days earlier.
Are there still bodies in Chernobyl?
Most of the direct victims are buried at the Mitino cemetery in Moscow. Each body is sealed in a concrete coffin, because of its high radiation. Although the power plant is named after the small town of Chernobyl, a new town was built much closer to the power plant; the town of Pripyat.Does Chernobyl still make power?
Although no longer a working power station, Chernobyl was never fully abandoned and still requires constant management. Spent nuclear fuel is cooled at the site.Is Chernobyl Russian or Ukraine?
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chernobyl remained part of Ukraine within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone which Ukraine inherited from the Soviet Union.Why have Russian troops left Chernobyl?
Russian troops were likely exposed to radiation at Chernobyl Ukraine's defense ministry cited two reasons for the Russian exit: military losses and radiation exposure. They likely disturbed polluted soil in the Chernobyl zone's contaminated Red Forest.Is Chernobyl reactor 4 still burning?
Chernobyl reactor 4 is no longer burning. The reactor was originally covered after the disaster, but it resulted in a leak of nuclear waste and needed to be replaced.Was Fukushima worse than Chernobyl?
Chernobyl had a higher death toll than FukushimaWhile evaluating the human cost of a nuclear disaster is a difficult task, the scientific consensus is that Chernobyl outranks its counterparts as the most damaging nuclear accident the world has ever seen.