When Russian troops Chernobyl Exclusion zone on the first day of the war in Ukraineit took them only a few hours to capture the 300 workers, firemen and guards and claim victory.
Entering Ukrainian territory from neighboring Belarusthis was a strategic move by Vladimir Putin’s forces — and one that the western world believed the rest of the invasion would take place.
But now, a Reuters research has shown the infamous site in Pripyat was conquered so easily because of a lengthy Kremlin operation to infiltrate it with secret agents.
“Apart from the external enemy, unfortunately, we have an internal enemy, and this enemy is no less dangerous,” said Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
By the time Russia’s first tanks drove into the country, Moscow already had agents in Ukraine’s defense, security and law enforcement sectors.
Danilov refused to share the names of the traitors, but said they should be “neutralized” at all costs.
Court documents and testimony further show that Chernobyl’s chief of security, Valentin Viter, is currently in custody.
He is under investigation for retiring from his post after allegedly ordering the factory’s 169 guards to surrender.
Officers have also launched a second investigation into him on suspicion of treason, but his lawyer dismisses the charges.
In a statement to investigators, Viter said he spoke by phone with the commander of the National Guard unit on the day of the invasion.
He advised the commander not to endanger his unit and said to him, “Save your people.”
Ukraine’s State Investigation Office has also said it is investigating former top intelligence official Andriy Naumov on suspicion of treason for passing on security secrets about Chernobyl to a foreign state, but it is unclear whether this is Russia.
A source revealed to the news agency that Russian agents had been deployed to the site last year to bribe officials and prepare for the attack.
At the national level, another source warned that Putin’s government was counting on activating sleepers within Ukrainian security.
It is believed they also had hotelier Oleg Tsaryov lined up to lead a puppet government in Kiev after President Volodymyr Zelensky was ousted.
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