![It took less than two hours for a 169-strong Ukrainian unit to give in to Russian forces](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2022/07/29/TELEMMGLPICT000291892078_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Chernobyl’s infiltration by sleeper agents led to easy Russian capture
Investigators say the nuclear plant’s head of security, who is suspected of treason, which he denies, ordered defenders to surrender
![It took less than two hours for a 169-strong Ukrainian unit to give in to Russian forces](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2022/07/29/TELEMMGLPICT000291892078_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Russia was able to capture the Chernobyl nuclear plant so easily because it was filled with sleeper agents and its head of security told its defenders to surrender, an investigation has found.
It took less than two hours for a 169-strong Ukrainian unit guarding the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster to surrender to Russian troops, whose armoured vehicles reached the plant on the first day of the war.
Five months on, the successful blitzkrieg operation on February 24 stands in stark contrast to the fierce resistance displayed by Ukrainian fighters who have deprived Vladimir Putin of capturing key cities like Kyiv.
Court documents and testimony have now revealed the role played by Chernobyl’s head of security, Valentin Viter, who is in detention and is being investigated for absenting himself from his post.
An extract from the state register of pre-trial investigations, seen by the Reuters news agency, shows Mr Viter is also suspected of treason, an allegation his lawyer says is unfounded.
In a statement to investigators, Mr Viter said that on the day of the invasion he spoke by phone with the National Guard unit commander. Mr Viter advised the commander not to endanger his unit, telling him: “Spare your people.”
![Russia's tanks reached the nuclear plant on the first day of the war](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2022/07/29/TELEMMGLPICT000291394869_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqjhyAHTYZpW25XtJw4380rYTPD5foJ9o3wuqP2tL5Yek.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Reuters reported that investigators concluded that Russia’s success at Chernobyl was “part of a long-standing Kremlin operation to infiltrate the Ukrainian state with secret agents”.
Mr Putin’s war planners also believed these agents would allow Russia to force Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration to quit, flee or capitulate with only a small military force and a few days.
Its plan to take power in Kyiv, however, failed as many sleeper agents Moscow had installed failed to do their job, said sources in Russia and Ukraine.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, admitted that Russia had agents in the Ukrainian defence, security and law enforcement sectors but that these agents and their handlers believed Ukraine was weak, which was “a total misconception”.