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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops have begun abandoning the Chernothroughl nuclear power plant after infantrymen obtained “significant doses” of radiation by digging trenches at the highly infected site, Ukraine’s state-owned electric power company said Thursday as fighting raged on Ukraine’s outskirts. Kiev and other fronts.
Energoatom, the company, did not give important details about the condition of the troops or the number of other people affected, but said the Russians had dug in the inner forest the exclusion zone around the now-closed factory, in 1986 of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
The troops “panicked at the first sign of illness,” which “manifested itself very quickly,” and began preparing to leave, Energoatom said.
There was no quick comment from the Kremlin.
His forces seized the Chernobyl site at the beginning of the February 24 invasion, raising fears that they could cause damage or disturbance that could spread radiation. reactor.
The withdrawal came amid ongoing fighting and signs that the Kremlin is negotiating détente like an awning as it regroups and resupplys its forces and redeploys them for a reinforced offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is witnessing “an accumulation of Russian forces for new movements in the Donbass, and we are preparing for that. “
Meanwhile, a convoy of buses was heading to Mariupol as part of another attempt to evacuate citizens from the besieged port city after the Russian military agreed to a limited ceasefire in the area. And a new circular of talks aimed at preventing the fighting scheduled for Friday.
READ MORE: Authorities say Ukraine no longer controls Chernobyl nuclear site
The Red Cross said its groups were heading to Mariupol with medical and other relief materials and hoped to get civilians out of the besieged city.
Tens of thousands of other people have controlled leaving Mariupol in recent weeks through humanitarian corridors, reducing the city’s population from 430,000 before the war to around 100,000 last week, however, other efforts have been thwarted by continued Russian attacks.
At the same time, Russian forces bombed the outskirts of Kiev, two days after the Kremlin announced it would particularly reduce operations near the capital and northern city of Chernihiv to “increase mutual acceptance and create the conditions for further negotiations. “. “
The British Ministry of Defence also reported “heavy Russian shelling and missile fire” around Chernihiv. The region’s governor, Vyacheslav Chaus, said Russian troops were on the move but possibly would not withdraw.
The Russian military also reported new movements at Ukraine’s fuel retail outlets on Wednesday night, and Ukrainian authorities said there were artillery shelling in and around the northeastern city of Kharkiv during the following day.
Despite fighting in those areas, the Russian military said it had committed to a ceasefire along the highway linking Mariupol to the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said forty-five buses would be sent to pick up civilians who have suffered some of the worst hardships of the war.
Food, water and medical supplies ran out after a week of blockade and shelling of the city. Civilians who regularly checked out did so in personal cars, but the number of driving cars left in the city has decreased and fuel is low.
“It is incredible that this operation is being carried out,” the Red Cross said in a statement. “The lives of tens of thousands of other people in Mariupol depend on it. “
Talks between Ukraine and Russia were scheduled to resume on Friday by video, according to the head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamia, six weeks after the start of a war that has left thousands dead and the staggering four million Ukrainians fleeing the country.
But it seemed unlikely that the two sides would clash anytime soon, especially after the Russian military’s attacks on the spaces where it had shown up to pass.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the situation was not yet “ripe” for a ceasefire in Ukraine and that he was not in a position to meet with Zelensky until negotiators worked harder, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said, recounting a verbal telephone exchange he had with the Russian president. The Russian leader on Wednesday.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said nato intelligence indicates that Russia is not cutting back on its military operations in Ukraine, but seeks to regroup, resupply its forces and its offensive in the Donbass.
“Russia has lied about its intentions,” he said Stoltenberg. Al the same time, he said, pressure on Kiev and other cities is maintained, and “we can expect more offensive moves that bring even more suffering. “
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Donbass is the predominantly Russian-speaking trading region where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014. In recent days, the Kremlin, in an obvious shift in its war objectives, has declared that its “main goal” now is to take Donbass, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Mariupol added.
Donetsk’s top leader, Denis Pushilin, has given the order to establish a rival municipal government for Mariupol, according to Russian state news agencies, as a sign of Russia’s goal of stopping and administering the city.
On the outskirts of Kiev, regional governor Oleksandr Palviuk said on social media that Russian forces bombed Irpin and Makariv and that there were battles around Hostomel. Pavliuk said there were Ukrainian counterattacks and Russian withdrawals around the suburb of Brovary.
In addition, Ukraine’s emergency said the death toll rose to 20 in a Russian missile strike on Tuesday at a government-run construction in the southern city of Mykolaiv.
As Western officials search for clues about what Russia’s next action might be, a senior British intelligence official said demoralized Russian infantrymen in Ukraine refused to carry out orders and sabotaged their aircraft and shot down their own plane.
In a speech in Australia, Jeremy Fleming, head of electronic spying firm GCHQ, said Putin had “judged very badly” the invasion. Intelligence officials have also concluded that Putin is misinformed through his advisers about the gravity of the war because they are afraid to tell him the truth.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the U. S. was and that “neither the State Department nor the Pentagon have genuine data on what’s going on in the Kremlin. “
In other developments, Putin legalized the recruitment of 134,500 new recruits as of April 1. The recruitment is a regime event but comes amid fears that some recruits could be sent to Ukraine.
Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu are confident that recruits will not participate in the war in Ukraine. However, earlier this month, the Russian military admitted that several recruits ended up in Ukraine and were captured there.
Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
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