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'No way out': Life under the Russians at Chernobyl

It began as a normal shift at Chernobyl for Oleksiy Shelestiy but as night turned to day on February 24, distant artillery fire and the arrival of Russian troops changed everything.

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"Every Russian soldier will bring a piece of Chernobyl home. Dead or alive," the minister added. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, later said "an increase in the levels" of radiation had been recorded at Chernobyl but insisted the matter was under control.