Russian troops who occupied the Chernobyl nuclear power plant may have been exposed to “significant doses of radiation,” Ukrainian state-owned energy company Energoatom said on Friday. The company said it could not determine the troops’ level of radiation exposure, but there were unconfirmed reports that some had been ill.
“The invaders did not excavate anything on the territory of the plant itself, but the thick dust raised by the equipment during transport and the radiation particles it contained could very well have penetrated the lungs into the bodies of the Russian occupiers,” said Valery Seyda. Director of the nuclear power plant said in a statement.
“Furthermore, no one knows what the invaders were doing in the Red Forest, and it’s also possible that they received significant doses of radiation while digging trenches in that forest,” Energoatom said.
The Red Forest is the most contaminated part of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, according to Reuters news agency, and even Chernobyl employees are not allowed to go there.
“A large convoy of military vehicles was driving down a road just behind our facility, and that road passes by the Red Forest,” a source told Reuters. “The convoy kicked up a large column of dust. Many radiation protection sensors showed exceedances.”
The International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA) said in a statement on Friday it could not confirm reports that Russian troops were exposed to high doses of radiation at Chernobyl. Meanwhile, Rafael Grossi, the head of the IAEA, said he would lead a mission to the facility as soon as possible.
“I will be leading an @IAEAorg aid and support mission to the #Chernobyl nuclear power plant as soon as possible. It will be the first in a series of such nuclear safety and security missions in #Ukraine,” Grossi said tweeted.
I initiate @IAEAorg Aid and support mission for the #Chornobyl nuclear power plant as soon as possible. It will be the first in a series of such nuclear safety and security missions #Ukraine.
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) April 1, 2022
Yevhen Kramarenko, head of Ukraine’s authority in charge of the exclusion zone, said radiation levels there now appear to be normal but facilities need to be checked.
He also said Russian troops were seen in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl power plant on Friday, after Energoatom said Thursday they had all left the plant itself, which was seized at the start of Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine had been.
On Thursday, Energoatom said Russian troops had also evacuated a nearby town home to people working in Chernobyl.
The Russian troops leaving Chernobyl were reportedly en route to Ukraine’s border with Belarus. Earlier this week, US and British officials said Russia is expected to regroup its battered forces in Belarus and elsewhere under its control to launch a fresh offensive in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region.
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