Russian troops are beginning to pull out of Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear facility and are moving into Belarus, a Pentagon official said on Wednesday.
The retreat comes a day after Russian officials said military operations in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv would scale back and over a month after Vladimir Putin’s army seized the site of the catastrophic 1986 nuclear disaster.
“Chernobyl is [an] area where they are beginning to reposition some of their troops — leaving, walking away from the Chernobyl facility and moving into Belarus,” the U.S. defense official said, according to a report.
“We think that they are leaving, I can’t tell you that they’re all gone,” the official cautioned.
UKRAINE SAYS RUSSIAN ARMS DEPOT NEAR CHERNOBYL ‘HUGE’ THREAT TO NUCLEAR FACILITY
Both the Pentagon and the White House believe that attacks will continue across Ukraine despite Russian troop movements.
Russia intends to “refit these troops, resupply them, and probably employ them elsewhere in Ukraine,” according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
“They should send them home,” Kirby said of the soldiers. “But that’s not what they’re doing, at least not yet.”
“No one should be fooled by Russia’s announcements,” White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said on Tuesday. “We believe any movement of forces from around Kyiv is a redeployment and not a withdrawal, and the world should be prepared for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine.”
“Everyone should expect that we’re going to continue to see attacks across Ukraine,” Bedingfield continued.
Since its invasion began last month, Russia has taken control of two nuclear facilities in Ukraine — the Chernobyl site and Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant.
Reckless actions by Russian forces around the nuclear facilities have sparked international worry.
Russia has stored “dozens of thousands of tons” of ammunition near the Chernobyl facility, according to Ukrainian officials, who say the munitions stored there are a “huge” threat to the safety of the plant.
Russian soldiers around Chernobyl have reportedly driven armored vehicles through a highly toxic zone called the Red Forest, kicking up clouds of radioactive dust as they traveled.
Russia also held staff at the Chernobyl facility hostage for weeks, denying workers the ability to rotate out of the facility and new staff to come in.
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In Zaporizhzhia, a fire erupted on March 3 as Russian forces shelled near the plant before taking control.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi traveled to Ukraine Tuesday to launch a new safety assistance program aimed at protecting Ukraine’s nuclear facilities from the war.
