CNN had exclusive access to the Chernobyl power plant for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And he’s found a spot where the detector beeper can be heard continuously. Russian soldiers lived in this room during the occupation of the nuclear power plant. The source of the radioactive material is not visible in the room, but Ukrainian officials say it came from the small particles and dust that the soldiers brought into the building. “They went to the Red Forest,” the area around Chernobyl, which is still the most contaminated area on earth after the 1986 nuclear disaster, “and brought the material into the power plant through their shoes,” explains Ukrainian soldier Ihor Ugolkov .
“In other areas, radiation is under control, but here it’s increasing because they’ve lived here,” he adds. The factory managers told the American broadcaster that the values in the room used by Russian soldiers were only slightly higher than in nature: A single contact is not dangerous, but exposure is a health hazard. “They went everywhere, they even put radioactive dust on their bodies,” Ugolkov claims as they left. In an area at the edge of the forest, CNN also found a container of lunch for soldiers whose radiation levels were 50 times higher than those found naturally. In the CNN images, the areas of the power plant occupied by the Russians appear to have been looted: clothing, personal belongings, boxes and bags on the floor. “Russian soldiers ransacked Ukrainians’ clothes and personal belongings like dogs, probably looking for money, valuables, laptops,” Ukraine’s Interior Minister told broadcaster Denys Monastyrskyy. ‘Here they looted he adds . They stole computers and equipment.’
