08/04/2022 15:34 (act 08/04/2022 15:34)
Workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were reportedly kidnapped to Russia. ©REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
Up to 170 employees of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant would have been brought to Russia, as the Ukrainian leadership reported to US broadcaster CNN.
The Russians held workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant hostage in the building’s air-raid shelter for nearly a month and then forcibly brought them to Russia, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyj told US broadcaster CNN. Most of the Ukrainians’ valuables and phones were stolen.
So far there has been no reaction from the Russian side. The information could not be verified initially.
Chernobyl nuclear plant workers kidnapped to Russia, according to Kiev
Ukrainian authorities also accused the Russians of destroying the plant’s long-term archive and damaging all offices. Among them is a modern laboratory worth six million euros, said operator Enerhoatom.
High levels of radiation in the “Red Forest” near Chernobyl
CNN also reported high levels of radiation in the so-called “Red Forest”, a radioactive exclusion zone near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was destroyed in a serious nuclear accident in 1986. In recent days, there have been several reports that Russian soldiers have dug trenches in the forest and supposedly radiated themselves in the process.
The state authority for managing the so-called exclusion zone around the reactor said it was too early to draw conclusions. However, the selective measures showed significant values. The official emphasized that remaining in the area is extremely dangerous.