A camera installed at a checkpoint at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant captured its occupation by the Russian armed forces, providing one of the rare video recordings of the actions of the Russian army in the first days of the war, reports Meduza.

For several days, the camera filmed at the Chernobyl nuclear power plantPhoto: video – Associated Press

The video, which has now been obtained by Associated Press journalists, was made by a video camera of a commercial company that organizes tours of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

The owner of the company, Yaroslav Emelianenko, installed a camera in his office where souvenirs and postcards were sold, which was located near the checkpoint.

After capturing the plant, the Russian army turned off all surveillance cameras, but did not notice the one installed by Emelianenko. The camera worked for several days after the arrival of Vladimir Putin’s troops in Ukraine on February 24, until the battery died.

It recorded the movement of Russian equipment at the checkpoint, the camera signal was transmitted to Emelianenko’s computer in the office in Kyiv. He immediately informed the Ukrainian government about the received video.

The Russians occupied the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on the first day of the war

For several days, Emelianenko and his employees stood in front of the monitors and counted the number of military equipment that passed under the camera. As he himself declares, monitoring “was difficult from a psychological point of view.”

“On the one hand, we see assurances in the news that no one will come to Kyiv. On the other hand, we continue to count the number of units of Russian military equipment,” he said.

Russian troops occupied Chernobyl and the nuclear power plant by the end of the first day of the war, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak announced on Thursday evening.

“It cannot be said that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is safe after the completely unnecessary attack by the Russians. “This is one of the most serious threats to modern Europe,” he said at the time.

At the end of March, Russian troops began to leave the NPP and its surroundings after the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced a decision to “sharply reduce” the actions of the Russian army in the direction of Kyiv.

All this time, the NPP workers were held hostage by Russian troops.

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