Russian forces have taken control of the Chernobyl power plant in northern Ukraine on Thursday (local time), as per an official.
Yevgeniya Kuznetsova, a spokeswoman for the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management told CNN that troops overran the plant on the first day of Russia's multi-pronged invasion of Ukraine.
"When I came to the office today in the morning [in Kyiv], it turned out, that the [Chernobyl nuclear power plant] management had left. So, there was no one to give instructions or defend," she said.
Earlier taking to Twitter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia is trying to seize the power plant.
"Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the Chernobyl [Nuclear Power Plant]. Our defenders are sacrificing their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated," Zelensky tweeted.
Ukraine Foreign Ministry also echoed the president's warning. "In 1986, the world saw the biggest technological disaster in Chernobyl," the Ministry tweeted. "If Russia continues the war, Chernobyl can happen again in 2022."
( With inputs from ANI )
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