A BATTLE was raging in the Chernobyl nuclear exclusion zone today after Russian troops stormed in from Belarus.

Ukrainian guards fought back as officials warned a direct hit on a waste storage facility could spread a radioactive dust cloud over the whole of Europe.

The invasion from Belarus came as Vladimir Putin's troops simultaneously surged into Ukraine from the north, east and south after a cruise missile blitz.

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian occupation troops were trying to capture the Chernobyl site near the Belarus border.

Forces were said to be fighting close to the giant sarcophagus sealing in the reactor that exploded in the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

Mr Zelensky: "Our defenders are giving their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 does not happen again."

He added the Russian assault on Chernobyl was "a declaration of war on all Europe".

The site also houses nuclear waste, and officials openly expressed fears Russian artillery shells could cause a catastrophic leak.

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Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Interior Minister, said the Russian troops entered the exclusion zone from the Belarus side.

He added: "If the occupiers' artillery strikes destroy the nuclear waste storage facility, radioactive dust could cover the territories of Ukraine, Belarus and the EU."

The 1986 reactor explosion and fire killed at least 31 and spewed huge quantities of radioactive particles into the air.

The cloud blew across Europe and fell over thousands of square miles.

The site is still protected by a large exclusion zone where people can only visit for short periods to avoid high doses of radiation.

Last month Ukraine sent reinforcements to the area over fears Chernobyl could be targeted by Putin.

It comes as:

• Boris Johnson vowed to 'hobble' Russia with massive sanctions as he said: 'Putin must fail'
• Bloodied civilians have been left fleeing for their lives after Russia's dawn assault
• Vladimir Putin warns of 'untold consequences' if the West challenges his invasion of Ukraine
• Britain is to batter Russia with 'unprecedented' sanctions of the invasion
• Fears are growing over the price of petrol and gas as the markets quake in the aftermath of the invasion
• Civilians are believed to have been hurt in the initial assault by Russia
• Putin is feared to have deploy Russia’s horrifying thermobaric rocket launchers

The long-feared invasion came in the early hours today as missile blasts rocked the capital Kyiv and cities across the country.

A second wave followed hours later as dramatic video showed a swarm of Mi-8 and Ka-52 helicopters blitzing an airport close to the capital.

Tanks also rolled into the east from Russia and met fierce resistance from defence forces near the strategic city of Karkhiv.

Video footage showed destroyed tanks and armoured cars littering roads leading into the city.

Meanwhile troops surged into the south from annexed Crimea, and planted a Russian flag on the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant.

Dozens of civilians are reported dead including 22 in one village near Odessa and four when a hospital was shelled in Donetsk province.

Elsewhere, fighter jets were seen flying low over Kyiv, and a Ukrainian An-26 plane was shot down killing five.

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