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Russian forces have kicked up radioactive dust and disrupted a highly toxic zone around the area known as the “Red Forest” of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster since they took over the decommissioned power plant early in its invasion of Ukraine, workers at the site said.
Reuters spoke to workers who said Russian soldiers in a convoy failed to use radiation protection gear and inhaled toxic dust that would most likely lead to internal radiation in their bodies. In the weeks after Russia took the compound on February 24, the soldiers were still not wearing protective gear, they said.
Two workers were on duty when Russian forces seized control of the Chernobyl power plant, the scene of the 1986 nuclear disaster, considered the worst in history and an international embarrassment for the Soviet Union. The Rotwald, a small area around the power plant, is still heavily contaminated.
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In the days since Moscow seized the plant, news agency workers said they saw Russian armored vehicles and tanks moving through the forest, which got its name from the massive amounts of radiation that turned the trees red. A Russian soldier reportedly told them he had never heard of the 1986 disaster.
“A large convoy of military vehicles drove down a road just behind our facility, and that road passes by the Red Forest,” an official told Reuters. “The convoy kicked up a large column of dust. Many radiation protection sensors showed exceedances.”
Valery Seida, acting general at the plant, told Reuters that he had been told about the convoy, saying: “Nobody goes there. There is no one there.”
A day after taking the site, Russia said radiation levels at the facility were within limits and that staff were monitoring radioactivity. On March 9, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that it was no longer receiving monitoring data from the Chernobyl site.
Over the weekend, Russian troops captured the town of Slavutych, home to many workers at the decommissioned Chernobyl plant. On Monday, Seida and the mayor of Slavutych said the Russians had left the city.
US Senator Bob Menedez, DN.J., has called on the IAEA to work to ensure oversight of Ukrainian nuclear facilities under Russian control.
In a letter Monday to IAEA Director-General Grossi, Menendez said Moscow’s disregard for IAEA security protocols “exposes the international community to unforeseen nuclear threats and constitutes President Putin’s disregard for human life and well-being of the citizens of Ukraine and his own people.”
“As we have learned from past nuclear disasters, the impacts are permanent, irreversible, and result in the loss of life, habitats, ecosystems, and valuable societies in the vicinity of nuclear facilities,” he wrote.
Grossi traveled to Ukraine on Tuesday to speak with senior government officials about the IAEA’s plan to provide technical assistance to avert potential threats to people and the environment.
“The military conflict puts Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and other radioactive material facilities in unprecedented danger. We must act urgently to ensure that they can continue to operate safely and securely, and to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident that could have serious health and environmental impacts both in Ukraine and beyond,” he said in a statement.
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The statement said Grossi would travel to one of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants this week, but did not say which one. Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors in four active power plants. On Monday, the IAEA said Ukraine’s nuclear regulatory agency had told it eight of Ukraine’s 15 reactors remained operational, including two at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia. The others had been shut down for regular maintenance work, it said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.