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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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For days, the workers relied first on their diesel supplies and later fuel provided by the Russians until they were able to re-route power through the Belarus grid. All the while, the Ukrainians trapped at the plant were only able to catch snippets of what was happening outside Chernobyl by listening to radio broadcasts and through occasional calls back home on one of the plant's landlines.