Russian troops left the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site early Friday after returning control to the Ukrainians, authorities said, as eastern parts of the country braced for renewed attacks and Russians blocked another aid mission to the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Ukraine's state power company, Energoatom, said the pullout at Chernobyl came after soldiers received "significant doses" of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. But there was no independent confirmation of that.
The exchange of control happened amid growing indications the Kremlin is using talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover to regroup, resupply its forces, and redeploy them for a stepped-up offensive in the eastern part of the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russian withdrawals from the north and center of the country were just a military tactic to build up forces for new powerful attacks in the southeast. A new round of talks between the countries was scheduled for Friday, five weeks into a conflict that has left thousands dead and driven 4 million Ukrainians from the country.
"We know their intentions," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. "We know that they are moving away from those areas where we hit them in order to focus on other, very important ones where it may be difficult for us."
"There will be battles ahead," he added.
Meanwhile, in Mariupol, Russian forces blocked a convoy of 45 buses attempting to evacuate people after the Russian military agreed to a limited cease-fire in the area. Only 631 people were able to get out of the city in private cars, according to the Ukrainian government.
Russian forces also seized 14 tons of food and medical supplies in a dozen buses that were trying to make it to Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
The city has been the scene of some of the worst suffering of the war. Tens of thousands have managed to get out in the past few weeks by way of humanitarian corridors, reducing the population from a prewar 430,000 to an estimated 100,000 by last week, but other relief efforts have been thwarted by continued Russian attacks.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had been informed by Ukraine that the Russian forces at the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster had transferred control of it in writing to the Ukrainians. The last Russian troops left early Friday, the Ukrainian government agency responsible for the exclusion zone said.
Energoatom gave no details on the condition of the soldiers it said were exposed to radiation and did not say how many were affected. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin, and the IAEA said it had not been able to confirm the reports of Russian troops receiving high doses. It said it was seeking more information.
Russian forces seized the Chernobyl site in the opening stages of the Feb. 24 invasion, raising fears that they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation. The workforce at the site oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and the concrete-entombed ruins of the reactor that exploded in 1986.
Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert with the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said it "seems unlikely" a large number of troops would develop severe radiation illness, but it was impossible to know for sure without more details.
He said contaminated material was probably buried or covered with new topsoil during the cleanup of Chernobyl, and some soldiers may have been exposed to a "hot spot" of radiation while digging. Others may have assumed they were at risk too, he said.
Early this week, the Russians said they would significantly scale back military operations in areas around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv to increase trust between the two sides and help negotiations along.
But in the Kyiv suburbs, regional governor Oleksandr Palviuk said on social media Thursday that Russian forces shelled Irpin and Makariv and that there were battles around Hostomel. Ukrainian forces counterattacked and some Russian withdrawals around the suburb of Brovary to the east, Pavliuk said.
At a Ukrainian military checkpoint outside Kyiv, soldiers and officers said they don't believe Russian forces have given up on the capital.
"What does it mean, significantly scaling down combat actions in the Kyiv and Chernihiv areas?" asked Brig. Gen. Valeriy Embakov. "Does it mean there will be 100 missiles instead of 200 missiles launched on Kyiv or something else?"
Chernihiv came under attack as well. At least one person was killed and four were wounded in the Russian shelling of a humanitarian convoy of buses sent to Chernihiv to evacuate residents cut off from food, water, and other supplies, said Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Lyudmyla Denisova.
Elsewhere, Ukraine reported Russian artillery barrages in and around the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
Ukraine's emergency services also said the death toll had risen to 20 in a Russian missile strike Tuesday on a government administration building in the southern city of Mykolaiv.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said intelligence indicated Russia was not scaling back its military operations in Ukraine but was instead trying to regroup, resupply its forces, and reinforce its offensive in the Donbas.
"Russia has repeatedly lied about its intentions," Stoltenberg said. At the same time, he said, pressure is being kept up on Kyiv and other cities, and "we can expect additional offensive actions bringing even more suffering."
The Donbas is the predominantly Russian-speaking industrial region where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014. In the past few days, the Kremlin, in a seeming shift in its war aims, said that its "main goal" now is gaining control of the Donbas, which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including Mariupol.
The top rebel leader in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, issued an order to set up a rival city government for Mariupol, according to Russian state news agencies, in a sign of Russian intent to hold and administer the city.
With talks set to resume between Ukraine and Russia via video, there seemed little faith that the two sides would resolve the conflict any time soon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that conditions were not yet "ripe" for a ceasefire and that he was not ready for a meeting with Zelenskyy until negotiators do more work, Italian Premier Mario Draghi said after a telephone conversation with the Russian leader.
As Western officials search for clues about what Russia's next move might be, a top British intelligence official said demoralized Russian soldiers in Ukraine are refusing to carry out orders and sabotaging their equipment and had accidentally shot down their own aircraft.
US intelligence officials have concluded that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the war is going because they are afraid to tell him the truth.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the US is wrong and that "neither the State Department nor the Pentagon possesses the real information about what is happening in the Kremlin."
Putin, meanwhile, has demanded foreign buyers pay for Russian gas in rubles starting Friday or else have their supplies cut, a move European capitals rejected and which Germany said amounted to "blackmail."
Putin's decree on Thursday leaves Europe facing the prospect of losing more than a third of its gas supply. Germany, the most heavily reliant on Russia, has already activated an emergency plan that could lead to rationing in Europe's biggest economy.
Energy exports are Putin's most powerful lever as he tries to hit back against sweeping Western sanctions imposed on Russian banks, companies, businessmen, and associates of the Kremlin in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Putin said buyers of Russian gas "must open ruble accounts in Russian banks. It is from these accounts that payments will be made for gas delivered starting from tomorrow," or April 1.
"If such payments are not made, we will consider this a default on the part of buyers, with all the ensuing consequences. Nobody sells us anything for free, and we are not going to do charity either - that is, existing contracts will be stopped," he said in televised remarks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later explained that Russia would not turn off gas supplies to Europe from Friday as payments on deliveries due after April 1 come in the second half of this month and May.
He told a conference call that President Vladimir Putin's order to switch end-payment currency for gas supplies to roubles was irreversible and that the ruble was the most preferable and secure currency for Russia now.
Italy said it was in contact with its European partners to give a firm response to Russia, adding its own gas reserves would allow economic activity to continue even in the event of disruptions.
Meantime, Germany's energy firms said they were in close talks with Berlin about how to respond to possible supply disruptions and draw up a roadmap on what to do should Russia stop gas exports.
Under the mechanism decreed by Putin, foreign buyers would use special accounts at Gazprombank to pay for the gas. Gazprombank would buy rubles on behalf of the gas buyer and transfer rubles to another account, the order said.
A source told Reuters that payments for gas delivered in April on some contracts started in the second half of April and May for others, suggesting the taps might not be turned off immediately.
Putin's decision to enforce ruble payments has boosted the Russian currency, which fell to historic lows after the Feb. 24 invasion. The ruble has since recovered much lost ground.
"What sounded grandiose has turned into a storm in a teacup. By making it the main recipient of money for gas, it puts an extra shield against sanctions around Gazprombank," said Jack Sharples of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
Western companies and governments have rejected any move to change their gas supply contracts to another payment currency. Most European buyers use euros. Executives say it would take months or longer to renegotiate terms.
Payment in rubles would also blunt the impact of Western curbs on Moscow's access to its foreign exchange reserves.
Meanwhile, European states have been racing to secure alternative supplies, but with the global market already tight, they have few options. The United States has offered more of its liquefied natural gas but not enough to replace Russia.
"It is important for us not to give a signal that we will be blackmailed by Putin," German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said, adding that Russia had not been able to divide Europe.
Payments would continue to be made in euros, Germany said.
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said France and Germany were preparing for the possibility of Russian gas flows being halted. He declined to comment on technical details linked to the latest Russian demands for ruble payment.
Putin said the switch to rubles would strengthen Russia's sovereignty. He said the West was using the financial system as a weapon, and it made no sense for Russia to trade in dollars and euros when assets in those currencies were being frozen.
"What is actually happening? What has already happened? We have supplied European consumers with our resources, in this case, gas. They received it, paid us in euros, which they then froze themselves. In this regard, there is every reason to believe that we delivered part of the gas provided to Europe practically free of charge," he said.
"That, of course, cannot continue," Putin said, although he said Russia still valued its business reputation and would continue to meet obligations in its gas and other contracts.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
