Several hundred Russian soldiers have reportedly been withdrawn from the Chernobyl nuclear facility in Ukraine after suffering from “acute radiation sickness” and being treated in Belarus.
The Pentagon previously confirmed that Russian forces were beginning to withdraw from the disused facility, which was captured on the first day of the invasion, after the Kremlin pledged to scale back its offensive.
However, an employee of the Public Council of Ukraine’s State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management said the soldiers fled while they were “irradiated” and bused to a medical facility in Gomel, Belarus, the Mirror reported.
“Another group of irradiated terrorists who seized the Chernobyl zone was taken today to the Belarusian Center for Radiation Medicine in Gomel,” wrote Yaroslav Yemelianenko on Facebook.
“Did you dig ditches in the Red Forest, b—hes? Now live with it for the rest of your short life. There are rules for dealing with this area. They’re mandatory because radiation is physics — it works regardless of status or shoulder ranks,” he wrote.
Several hundred Russian soldiers, seen here on buses to a medical facility, were forced to hastily retreat from the Chernobyl power plant.Facebook / Yaroslav Yemelianenko
Chernobyl was taken by Russian troops on the first day of the invasion.EPA/RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT
“With minimal intelligence in command or soldiers, these consequences could have been avoided,” Yemelianenko added.
News of the disease came shortly after Ukrainian officials claimed that Russian troops “looted and destroyed” a special laboratory containing “highly active” radioactive samples from the decommissioned nuclear power plant.
The lab contained “highly active samples and samples of radionuclides now in enemy hands,” the stage agency said in a Facebook post, referring to unstable atoms that release radiation.
Alleged Russian tanks can be seen in front of Chernobyl’s main reactor. Forgotten Chernobyl/Facebook
The Ukrainian agency had said it hoped Russian troops “will cause damage [themselves] and not the civilized world.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of using the Chernobyl exclusion zone to prepare for new attacks.
A US official told Agence France-Presse this week that Russian troops “were leaving the Chernobyl facility and moving to Belarus. Chernobyl is (an) area where they start to reposition some of their troops – they leave, leave the Chernobyl facility and move to Belarus.
“We think they’re leaving. I can’t tell you they’re all gone,” the official added.
Russian military vehicles can be seen at Trostyanets in the Sumy region of Ukraine, which was recaptured by the Ukrainian army. EPO/ROMAN PILIPEY
The bodies of Russian soldiers lie on the ground after Ukrainian troops recaptured the village of Mala Rogan east of Kharkiv. FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, the head of Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear company said Thursday that the UN nuclear surveillance missions will set up online surveillance missions to the Russian-held Chernobyl and Zaporizhia power plants.
Energoatom CEO Petro Kotin said the International Atomic Energy Agency should use its influence to ensure Russian nuclear authorities do not interfere in the operation of nuclear power plants manned by Russian forces.
“(The IAEA) can and must influence this, and this issue will be discussed,” Kotin said.
He said he could not disclose all the findings of a meeting he had with visiting IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Wednesday.