12/7/2023 0 Comments Chernobyl aftermath buildingsThe Russian military occupied that facility in early March, when it took control of the area, shelling some of site’s buildings in the process. In addition to the decommissioned reactors at Chernobyl, Ukraine has four active nuclear power plants, including the largest in Europe in Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian officials say the behavior of the Russian military and the treatment of Ukrainian staff at the Chernobyl power plant highlights the danger posed by Moscow’s invasion as it gains control of plants in other areas. The last time the Russian Ministry of Defense mentioned the nuclear site was on February 26, confirming its capture and claiming it had made arrangements to ensure the safety of power units, the sarcophagus and a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. Moscow has said very little about what its soldiers did at Chernobyl. The Russian military stole computers and equipment.” “The Russian military went through all Ukrainian clothes, personal belongings, like dogs, in search of, probably, money, valuables, laptops,” Monastyrskyy continues. Clothes, hygiene supplies and other personal belongings were scattered all over the floor. Vasco Cotovio/CNNĬNN was shown inside the bunker and other places usually occupied by the plant’s staff by Ukrainian officials who claimed Russian soldiers had ransacked the place. Ukrainian National Guardsmen were detained by Russian soldiers in Chernobyl's own underground nuclear bunker. “When the country cannot control this, and we are responsible, Ukraine is responsible for the security, of course, that is a threat.” “That confinement is supposed to have electricity, it’s supposed to have the ventilation system and so on,” Galushchenko explains. There is also a considerable amount of spent nuclear fuel that needs to be looked after. “But we can see they went in there, the soldiers who went there, came back here and the level of radiation increased.”Īlthough Chernobyl is not an active power plant, the sarcophagus above the reactor that exploded nearly 36 years ago needs to be maintained to avoid further radiation leaks. “I really have no idea why they did it (go into the Red Forest). “It’s crazy, really,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko tells CNN at the plant. Russian soldiers held Chernobyl for a month and are thought to have been operating in contaminated areas most of the time. At a safe location, on the edges of that area, CNN saw a Russian military ration box that exhibited radiation levels 50 times above naturally occurring values.Ī Ukrainian soldier holds a radiation meter against a Russian military ration pack. Ukrainian officials have released drone footage of what they say were trenches dug by Russian soldiers in that area, which is particularly radioactive. The area around Chernobyl, namely the Red Forest, is still the most nuclear contaminated area on the planet, with most of the radioactive particles present on the soil. It’s an example of what Ukrainian officials say was the lax and careless behavior of Russian soldiers while they were in control of the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. “They went everywhere, and they also took some radioactive dust on them ,” Ugolkov adds. One-time contact would not be dangerous but continuous exposure would pose a health hazard. Officials at the plant explain the levels inside the room used by Russian soldiers are only slightly above what the World Nuclear Association describes as naturally occurring radiation. “Other places are fine, but radiation increased here, because they were living here.”ĬNN was given exclusive access to the power plant for the first time since it came back into Ukrainian control. “They went to the Red Forest and brought radioactive material back with them on their shoes,” soldier Ihor Ugolkov explains. There’s no visible presence of the source of the radioactive material in the room, but Ukrainian officials say it’s coming from small particles and dust that the soldiers brought into the building. This is where Russian soldiers were living at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and radiation levels are now higher than normal. The sudden ear-piercing beep of a radiation meter fills the room as a Ukrainian soldier walks in.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |