KYIV — The Belarusian border with Ukraine is 674 miles long. But one of the most strategically important areas of it lies directly north of Kyiv, in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the largely abandoned, heavily irradiated area around the Soviet nuclear power plant that melted down in 1986. Russian forces occupied the area from Feb. 24 until April 2, when they withdrew after a fierce Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is now the site of where Ukrainians fear the Russians may try to come back, possibly in league with a new combatant in the 10-month-long war: the army commanded by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.
Firefights have taken place in the abandoned city of Pripyat, according to Andrii, as opposing Russian and Belarusian recon teams probe Ukrainian defenses in the area, scouting out Ukrainian positions, attempting to sabotage critical Ukrainian infrastructure like electricity pylons, as well as covertly planting mines. Ukrainian patrols have been attempting to stop them.
“This is one of the only places you’ll be able to visually detect them before they fly over the water,” Andrii says, referring to the vast stretch of the Dnipro River just north of Kyiv, which the Shaheds attempt to bypass without interdiction by Ukraine’s recently Western-bolstered air defenses. According to a senior Western intelligence official, as of now there is no indication that Minsk is planning to play more than an offstage role in the war."The Belarusians are training Russian," the source said, referring to mobilized Russian troops,"but that's pretty much it. Things can still change but it would take one or two months for Lukashenko to build up sufficient numbers for an invasion.
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