On February 24, the first day of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Moscow’s troops took over Chernobyl, the scene of the world’s worst ever nuclear accident. Following a 35-day occupation, Ukraine regained control of the vast defunct plant, but workers have had a hard time returning it to regular functioning. Employees were forced to rebuild IT systems from scratch after specialist equipment and software was ransacked by Russian soldiers. Chernobyl remains a highly volatile site, with hundreds of tonnes of radioactive material still sitting under a protective cover.
