The Russian occupiers managed to quickly seize the territory of the Chornobyl NPP thanks to a network of agents who were sent to Ukraine long before the Russian invasion. The capture of the station opened the shortest way to attack Kyiv.
This is stated in the Reuters investigation.
The agency got access to the materials of the criminal proceedings, in particular, against the chief of protection of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant Valentyn Viter, who is suspected of treason, because he was not in his workplace on the day of the invasion. In his testimony, Viter stated that on the day of the invasion, he spoke by phone with the commander of the National Guard unit. Viter advised the commander not to resist the Russians. In the end, 169 National Guardsmen were captured by the Russians.
One source with direct knowledge of the Kremlinʼs invasion plans told Reuters that Russian agents were sent to Chornobyl last year to bribe officials and prepare the ground for a takeover. Reuters could not independently verify the details of the claim. However, the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine reported that it is conducting an investigation against Andriy Naumov, the former head of the Main Department of Internal Security of the SSU, on suspicion of transferring data related to the security of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant to a foreign state. Before being appointed to the SSU, Naumov worked at the Exclusion Zone Management Agency.
Reuters also reports that after the accident in 1986, employees of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant were recruited as KGB agents. Those officers officially became part of the SSU, but they continued to follow orders from Moscow, said a person with direct knowledge of the invasion plan. "Basically, they were FSB officers," he said.
In November 2021, Russia began sending undercover agents to Ukraine to establish contacts with officials responsible for the security of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. The source told the agency that Chornobyl also served as a point for issuing documents from the SSU headquarters. For payment, Ukrainian officials gave Russian spies information about Ukraineʼs military readiness.
The SSU refused to answer the agencyʼs questions. The SBI reported that they are currently investigating the actions of the National Guard. The National Guard itself defends its soldiers, stressing that the Geneva Convention prohibits combat operations on the territory of nuclear facilities.