Following the withdrawal of Russian forces, the Ukrainian flag has been hoisted over the Chernobyl nuclear power facility, according to the state corporation in charge of nuclear power plants on Saturday. 

Russian forces on
early February seized control of the Chernobyl nuclear plant located on the north of
Ukraine. The site of the world’s biggest-ever nuclear disaster saw an epic
battle as Moscow forces attacked the area through land, sea and air and Kyiv
fought valiantly on all three sides. Chernobyl, however, fell to the Russians.

An abandoned
nuclear facility, Chernobyl holds the key to Vladimir Putin’s endgame in Ukraine.
Political observers say capturing Chernobyl was always part of Moscow’s
efforts. This, because, Chernobyl sits on the shortest route between Belarus
and Ukraine capital Kyiv. The same route through which Russian forces sought to
enter Kyiv.

As of Friday,
Russian forces are said to have reached outskirts of the Ukrainian capital and
explosions have been reported from the city. Kyiv, the motherland of Russian civilisational
ethos, has always been a critical element in Putin’s vision for his country. Russian
forces are fast closing in.

The capture of
Chernobyl has no military significance, according to Jack Keane, a former chief
of the US Army staff, but because it sits on the shortest route from Belarus to
Kyiv, it was the target of a Russian “decapitation” strategy to oust the
Ukranian government, Keane said.

Meanwhile, in Kyiv,
sits Volodymyr Zelensky, an actor-comic turned president, adamant that he will
not leave the capital. “The enemy has marked me down as the number one target,”
said Zelensky, a man whose ascension to power was once compared to the famed “Waldo
moment”.

“They want to
destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state,” he went on to
say. Ukraine believes the current Russian aggression is Moscow’s bid to affect
a regime change and put in place a government more amenable to its interests.