Russia seizes city inhabited by Chernobyl nuclear plant crew
Russian forces have seized the city of Chernobyl nuclear plant crew members and briefly detained its mayor, sparking protests, Ukrainian officials said Saturday.
"I have been released," Mayor of Slavutych, Yuri Fomyshev, told AFP by phone after officials in the former Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, announced that he had been arrested.
Everything is as fine as possible under occupation.”
On the Instagram application, the military administration of the Kyiv region, which falls within the city's scope, announced that "the Russian occupation forces invaded Slavutych and occupied the municipal hospital."
The city of about 25,000 people, located about 160 km north of the capital, was built after the catastrophic nuclear accident at the Chernobyl facility in 1986.
Residents organized a march carrying a huge Ukrainian flag and headed towards the hospital, according to the authorities, noting that Russian forces fired in the air and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
On Instagram, the authorities posted scenes showing dozens of people gathered around the Ukrainian flag, chanting "Glory to Ukraine."
Russian forces took control of the Chernobyl facility on February 24, the first day of the invasion.
The control of the city comes after a rotation of crew members working at the facility at the end of last week, the first since Russia took control of the site.
About 100 Ukrainian technical workers continued to run the daily work at the facility for about four weeks without any rotation.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news