{"id":26909,"date":"2026-08-10T10:34:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T07:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/?p=26909"},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:34:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T07:34:32","slug":"oborona-chornobylskoi-zony-rf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/viyna\/oborona-chornobylskoi-zony-rf\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine is fortifying the Chernobyl exclusion zone in case of a new Russian offensive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"news-lead\">The Ukrainian military is strengthening defences in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in case of a possible renewed offensive by Russian forces from the north. Trenches, shelters and defensive positions are being set up in the exclusion zone, whilst barriers to counter FPV drones are being erected along the roads, reports Der Spiegel following a report by one of its journalists from Chernobyl and Pripyat.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-summary-box\">\n<p><strong>Briefly about the main points<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>New earthworks and shelters are being built in the exclusion zone.<\/li>\n<li>Nets are being installed along the roads to stop FPV drones.<\/li>\n<li>Checkpoints have been set up at intervals of a few kilometres.<\/li>\n<li>Russia used this route during its advance on Kyiv in 2022.<\/li>\n<li>Der Spiegel does not report any confirmed preparations for a new invasion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Earthworks and road checkpoints<\/h2>\n<p>Pros. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/ausland\/ukraine-krieg-wie-sich-tschernobyl-gegen-russlands-naechsten-invasionsversuch-wappnet-a-7dc03c1e-9936-4e9b-9503-6b5cf2e61c23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data<\/a> According to *Der Spiegel*, the military presence in the exclusion zone has become more noticeable: checkpoints are situated every few kilometres, and construction machinery is preparing new structures.<\/p>\n<p>In sandy soil, pits are dug, and the excavated earth is used to build embankments and artificial mounds at road junctions. Sheltered tunnels are constructed beneath such fortifications; the walls and ceilings are reinforced with timber from the surrounding pine forests.<\/p>\n<p>Near Pripyat, the military are also clearing sections of woodland to improve visibility and create potential corridors for the movement of military vehicles.<\/p>\n<h2>The nets are designed to prevent attacks by FPV drones<\/h2>\n<p>Tall metal posts are being erected along the roads, with special nets stretched between them. The idea is that they will make it more difficult for piloted drones to fly and cause them to become entangled before they can reach the equipment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/main-news\/volyn-antidronovi-sitky-kordon-bilorus\/\">Similar designs<\/a> are already being used on other sections of the front. In the Chernobyl sector, the risk of drone attacks is particularly acute due to the proximity of Belarus: the distance from the exclusion zone to its territory is approximately 15 kilometres.<\/p>\n<h2>The route through Chernobyl was part of the advance on Kyiv<\/h2>\n<p>On 24 February 2022, Russian troops entered the exclusion zone from Belarusian territory and seized the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. This route was part of a large-scale operation by the Russian Federation to capture the Ukrainian capital.<\/p>\n<p>Following the failure of the offensive at the end of March, Russian units left the Kyiv region and withdrew to Belarus. Subsequently, on the route through Belarusian territory, they destroyed a railway bridge which, prior to the full-scale war, had been used by workers <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/viyna\/rosiya-atakuvala-skhovysche-palyva-chaes\/\">CHNPP<\/a> were making their way to Slavutych.<\/p>\n<h2>This is about defence planning, not an inevitable offensive<\/h2>\n<p>Der Spiegel describes the development of defence infrastructure as preparation for a possible return of Russian troops. The publication does not provide any details regarding the strike force formed in Belarus, Moscow\u2019s decision to launch an offensive via Chernobyl, or the date of such an offensive.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, the current activities relate to the potential risk of a repeat of the 2022 scenario, rather than to reports of an imminent invasion.<\/p>\n<h2>The damaged Chernobyl containment structure poses additional risks to the area<\/h2>\n<p>In February 2025, a Russian drone damaged the New Safe Confinement structure covering the destroyed fourth power unit at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. The fire damaged the structure\u2019s inner membrane.<\/p>\n<p>The hole in the outer shell has already been sealed. However, according to *Der Spiegel*, the structure has sustained such serious damage that its original protective functions have been compromised.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The distance from the Chernobyl exclusion zone to Belarus is around 15 km. Ukraine is setting up defences here and protecting the roads against FPV drones.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":207433346,"featured_media":26908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"\u0412\u0456\u0434 \u0427\u043e\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u044c\u0441\u044c\u043a\u043e\u0457 \u0437\u043e\u043d\u0438 \u0434\u043e \u0411\u0456\u043b\u043e\u0440\u0443\u0441\u0456 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u0437\u044c\u043a\u043e 15 \u043a\u043c. \u0423\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0457\u043d\u0430 \u0433\u043e\u0442\u0443\u0454 \u0442\u0443\u0442 \u0443\u043a\u0440\u0456\u043f\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0442\u0430 \u0437\u0430\u0445\u0438\u0441\u0442 \u0434\u043e\u0440\u0456\u0433 \u0432\u0456\u0434 FPV-\u0434\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0456\u0432.","rank_math_title":"\u041e\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0430 \u0427\u043e\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u044c\u0441\u044c\u043a\u043e\u0457 \u0437\u043e\u043d\u0438: \u0443\u043a\u0440\u0456\u043f\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0432\u0456\u0434 \u0420\u0424","rank_math_focus_keyword":"\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0430 \u0427\u043e\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u044c\u0441\u044c\u043a\u043e\u0457 \u0437\u043e\u043d\u0438","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[806815],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-viyna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433346"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26910,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26909\/revisions\/26910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}