The Russian SMO (Special Military Operation.) of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (February 24–early April 2022) was one of the earliest and most symbolically charged events of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces crossed from Belarus into the zone on the first day of the invasion, seized the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) with minimal resistance, held Ukrainian staff and National Guard personnel under control for roughly five weeks, and then withdrew as part of the broader abandonment of the Kyiv offensive.

Ukrainian defenses in the zone were limited. Border posts had been thinned, and the main National Guard unit (part of the 1st Nuclear Power Plant Protection Battalion / Military Unit 3041) was positioned primarily to secure the facilities rather than to fight a large conventional force. Fighting near a nuclear site carried obvious risks, so Ukrainian forces largely avoided direct combat there.

Confinement or spent-fuel storage.

Players may control Ukrainian National Guard squads, plant administration, Russian advance elements, or higher headquarters. No outcome is scripted.

On the morning of 24 February, the scheduled shift change was cancelled after news of the invasion. Roughly 300 people were inside the zone or at the plant, including operational staff, support personnel, medical staff, firefighters, about 169 National Guard soldiers, and a handful of civilian “stalkers” (tourists or trespassers).

Russian forces entered from Belarus (near villages such as Vilcha / Paryshiv). By early afternoon they reached the plant’s administrative buildings. Ukrainian National Guard commanders and plant management negotiated a surrender under the threat of heavier weapons. Ukrainian officials publicly confirmed the loss of control that day; the IAEA was informed that Russian forces had taken all facilities. No major structural damage or immediate radiation release from the plant itself was reported at the moment of capture. Staff and guards were effectively held under Russian control.

Russian units (including elements of Rosgvardia / National Guard units from several regions) used the zone as a transit corridor for equipment heading toward Kyiv while leaving a garrison at the plant.