Russian troops “looted and destroyed” a special laboratory containing “high-level” radioactive samples from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials claimed on Wednesday.
Invading forces had made an early target of the now-defunct main plant — the scene of the world’s worst meltdown in 1986 — storming and taking control of it on the first day of the war last month.
This week they also “illegally seized” a new $6.5 million laboratory that opened in 2015 with support from the European Commission to improve radioactive waste management there, according to Ukraine’s Chernobyl Exclusion Zone agency .
Russian troops “looted and destroyed” a special laboratory containing “highly active” radioactive samples. Forgotten Chernobyl/Facebook
Invaders had made Chernobyl an early target.EPA/RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT
Russian troops also “seized” a new $6.5 million lab that opened in 2015. AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, file
The lab contained “highly active samples and samples of radionuclides now in enemy hands,” the agency said in a Facebook post, referring to unstable atoms that release radiation.
The Ukrainian agency said it hopes Russian troops “will cause damage [themselves] and not the civilized world.”
While Chernobyl was being shut down, the lab was built as part of the careful management needed to prevent another 1986-like disaster. It contained groundbreaking devices not available anywhere else in Europe, the statement said.
The lab contained “highly active samples and samples of radionuclides.” European Bank for Reconstruction and Development/Handout via REUTERS
Russian invasion of Ukraine on March 22, 2022.
Russian soldiers stand guard outside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine, March 7, 2022.EPA/RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT
President Zelenskyy also accused Russia of using the Chernobyl exclusion zone to prepare for new attacks.European Bank for Reconstruction and Development/Handout via REUTERS
The attack came just a day after Ukraine’s nuclear regulatory agency said radiation monitors around the facility were no longer working.
“There is no data on the current level of radiation exposure around the exclusion zone, which makes it impossible to adequately respond to threats,” warned the state-owned nuclear company Energoatom.
“Radiation levels in the Exclusion Zone and beyond, including not only Ukraine but other countries as well, could deteriorate significantly,” she warned, saying seasonal wildfires posed a particular risk.
Military vehicles next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant February 25, 2022. BlackSky/Handout via REUTERS
Alleged Russian tanks in front of Chernobyl’s main reactor, Thursday February 24, 2022. Forgotten Chernobyl/Facebook
Ukraine’s nuclear regulatory agency said radiation monitors around the facility were no longer working. EPA/MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES HANDOUT
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also accused Russia on Wednesday of using the Chernobyl exclusion zone to prepare for new attacks.
“The world is on the brink of many new crises,” he said, without going into the exact information for the zone. “The environmental and nutritional challenges are unprecedented.”
With mail wires