Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces, Ukraine confirms

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been captured by Russian forces, confirmed Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office, on Thursday.

“It is impossible to say the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is safe after a totally pointless attack by the Russians,” he said.

“This is one of the most serious threats in Europe today,” Podolyak said.

The news came mere hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported Russian forces were trying to seize control of the site that once housed the Soviet-era power plant.

A disaster at the power plant in 1986 made thousands of square kilometres around the site uninhabitable. A shelter was constructed around the decommissioned plant to prevent nuclear leakage, and an additional 29-kilometre radius around the site is considered an “exclusion zone.”

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Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a widespread attack on Ukraine Thursday morning.

Russian forces have attacked the country by land, sea and air, and administration in the southern Kherson region confirmed that parts of the country were no longer under Kyiv’s control.

Ukrainians have begun to flee the country after several areas were targeted by missile strikes. An adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office confirmed that a least 40 people were dead and dozens have been wounded by the Russian attacks.

Putin has warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen.”

Global Affairs Canada, which since January has warned against non-essential travel to Ukraine, on Thursday updated its advice for Canadians who remain, urging people to “shelter in place unless it is safe for you to leave the country.”

“The security conditions are deteriorating rapidly,” a notice on the Global Affairs website reads.

— with files from Reuters and Global News