There is no visible presence of the source of the radioactive material in the room, but Ukrainian officials say it came from small particles and dust that the soldiers brought into the building.
“They went to the Red Forest and brought radioactive material with them on their shoes,” explains soldier Ihor Ugolkov. “Other places are fine, but the radiation has increased here because they’ve lived here.”
CNN was given exclusive access to the power plant for the first time since it returned to Ukrainian control.
Officials at the facility say levels in the room used by Russian soldiers are only slightly above what the World Nuclear Association describes as naturally occurring radiation. A single contact would not be dangerous, but continuous exposure would pose a health risk.
“They went everywhere and also took radioactive dust with them [when they left]’ adds Ugolkov.
It is an example of what Ukrainian officials call the careless and careless behavior of Russian soldiers while they controlled the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. The area around Chernobyl, namely the Red Forest, is still the most nuclear-contaminated area on the planet, with the most radioactive particles present in the ground.
Ukrainian officials have released drone footage of trenches allegedly dug by Russian soldiers in this particularly radioactive area. In a safe place, on the edges of this area, CNN saw a Russian military ration box that showed radiation levels 50 times higher than naturally occurring levels.
Russian soldiers held Chernobyl for a month and are said to have operated in contaminated areas for most of the time.
“It’s really crazy,” Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko told CNN in the attachment. “I really have no idea why they did it (go to the Red Forest).
“But we can see that they went in there, the soldiers who went there came back here and the radiation increased.”
Although Chernobyl is not an active power plant, the sarcophagus over the reactor that exploded almost 36 years ago needs maintenance to prevent further radiation leaks. There is also a significant amount of spent nuclear fuel that needs to be treated.
“This detention should have electricity, it should have a ventilation system and so on,” Galushchenko explains. “If the country cannot control that and we are responsible for it, of course Ukraine is responsible for security, of course that’s a threat.”
Part of that threat also came from the way Russian soldiers managed those responsible for maintaining the nuclear facilities.
[Our staff] were here from the first day of the occupation, and they only had the opportunity to be replaced a month later,” he tells the soldiers, “it’s really a very difficult job.”
Volodymyr Falshovnyk, 64, is a shift supervisor at Chernobyl. He returned to the power plant on March 20, when the Russian military allowed the exhausted staff to transfer with their colleagues from the nearby town of Slavutych, where many workers at the power plant live.
He says the staff are working under enormous pressure, not only because of the events at Chernobyl, but also because of the news they received from outside.
“Our relatives started calling and saying that the city was being stormed, that there were wounded and dead,” he says. “We asked the Russians what was going on and they said there were no regular Russian troops there, but we kept hearing that there was shelling.”
Falshovnyk also accused the Russian soldiers of looting the power plant.
“They provided Rosatom (Russian Nuclear Authority) personnel to escort us and in their escort we toured the uncovered warehouses. They were robbing these warehouses all the time,” he adds.
Operation in these conditions was intense, but nothing compared to what security personnel endured.
The 169 soldiers of Ukraine’s National Guard guarding the facility were locked in the facility’s Cold War-era underground nuclear bunker, crammed into a confined space with no access to natural light, fresh air, or communication with the outside world, according to Ukraine’s Interior Minister.
“They were held here for 30 days without adequate lighting and food. They were not allowed outside. On the last day they were taken away from here, in an unknown direction,” says Denys Monastyrskyy while standing in the bunker.
The minister says he believes the men were taken to Russia via Belarus as prisoners of war, but doesn’t know for sure.
“Today, unfortunately, we don’t know anything about her fate,” he says.
CNN was shown inside the bunker and other locations normally occupied by factory personnel by Ukrainian officials who claimed Russian soldiers looted the location. Clothing, toiletries, and other personal items were strewn on the floor.
“Russian military searched all Ukrainian clothes, personal belongings like dogs, probably looking for money, valuables and laptops,” Monastyrskyy continues. “There was looting here. The Russian military stole computers and equipment.”
Moscow has said very little about what its soldiers did at Chernobyl. The last time the Russian Defense Ministry mentioned the nuclear site was on February 26, confirming its capture and claiming it had taken precautions to ensure the safety of the power plants, sarcophagus and a spent nuclear fuel storage facility.
Chernobyl is not an isolated case
Ukrainian officials say the behavior of the Russian military and the treatment of Ukrainian personnel at the Chernobyl power plant underscores the danger posed by the invasion of Moscow as it gains control of facilities in other areas.
In addition to the decommissioned reactors in Chernobyl, Ukraine has four active nuclear power plants, including the largest in Europe in Zaporizhia. The Russian military occupied this facility in early March when it took control of the area, shelling some of the site’s buildings in the process.
“The situation there is terrible too, especially considering how they are taking Zaporizhia for firing at the station with heavy weapons,” says Energy Minister Galushchenko.
“It really is an act of nuclear terrorism,” he adds. “I’m not even talking about them shelling the stations well because it’s a situation at Zaporizhia NPP, but if we don’t have the ability to be responsible for nuclear safety, there is a threat.”
And although Ukraine has regained control of Chernobyl, Ukrainian officials fear Russian soldiers may try to come back.
“We understand that today we must be prepared for a new attack on a nuclear power plant at any time. We will use the best experience in the world to ensure that the station is protected as the border is only a few tens of kilometers away,” said Interior Minister Monastyrsky.
“What we see [in Chernobyl] is a vivid example of outrage at a nuclear facility. It is not only the responsibility of Ukraine but of the whole world to keep the stations safe,” he says. “The whole world watched live as tanks fired on nuclear power plants [in Zaporizhzhia]. This history must never be repeated.”
Monastyrskyy says his country needs continued international support to achieve this.
“We are ready to invest in the future of Ukraine and in the future security of the world,” he continues, repeating his government’s call for additional arms to be sent to Ukraine.
“Today the border between totalitarianism and democracy runs behind our backs, the border between freedom and oppression,” he says. “We are ready to fight for it.”