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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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Built in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident as a settlement for evacuated families who had been living near the plant in 1986, Slavutych was one of the last purpose-made towns constructed from scratch during the final days of the Soviet Union. For many of its residents, seeing chaos engulf Chernobyl again was an unwelcome case of deja-vu.