Russia is said to have systematically infiltrated the institutions in Ukraine even before the war started. Research by Reuters news agency showed that Russian secret services, for example, have been providing information about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant for decades. This made it possible to take the factory without resistance.
Chernobyl, the shortest route to Kiev for the troops advancing from the north, would be the prelude to the seizure of power over all of Ukraine. Since the nuclear disaster in 1986, Chernobyl has been a stronghold of secret services controlled from Moscow. The KGB (Russian domestic and foreign secret service, which existed until 1991, please note) sent more than 1,000 employees to the cleanup work, according to Ukrainian documents. These were installed in positions of influence and, according to an insider, continued to receive orders from Moscow even after the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Bribe to go to work
Although the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been out of operation for more than 20 years, the staff is still engaged in the decommissioning and control work. According to the investigation, Russia would have reactivated its old connections by November 2021. Specifically, according to an insider, agents were bribed so that the power plant could be taken without bloodshed. The deputy general manager of the factory and colonel of the Ukrainian secret service SBU, Valentin Viter, is already in custody. He is said to have left his seat without permission on February 24, the day of the invasion, and is charged with high treason. He had previously urged the chief of the National Guard in Chernobyl to take it easy on his people.
War would only last a few days
All in all, the war in Ukraine should have lasted only a few days for Moscow, Reuters reported. Five people familiar with the war preparations said the Kremlin had counted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to resign, capitulate or flee within days. Ukrainian accomplices should contribute to this.
However, that didn’t happen. The Ukrainian army has been resisting for more than five months and Zelenskyy is still in the country. The fact that Moscow miscalculated would have something to do with structural problems in the Russian agent network. For example, according to an insider, the separatist leadership knows little, but always says what the leadership wants to hear, otherwise they will not get paid. What Russia has managed to do, however, is that mistrust in the Ukrainian secret service SBU, which employs some 30,000 people, has increased. 651 cases of high treason and collaboration have already been opened. On July 17, the President of Ukraine fired SBU chief Ivan Bakanov and Attorney General Iryna Venediktova.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
