On Thursday night, Ukrainian authorities announced that Russian forces had left Chernobyl and handed over control of the decommissioned nuclear power plant to the Ukrainians.
– There are no longer any Russian soldiers at and around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the state-owned Ukrainian agency responsible for the closed zone around the nuclear power plant announced on Facebook.
Only a few soldiers will be left at the decommissioned nuclear power plant, and the rest will be on their way to the Belarusian border.
The Ukrainian newspaper Truth claims that several Russian soldiers have shown symptoms of radiation, and refers to a post from Ukraine’s state nuclear power company Energoatom on Telegram.
It is claimed that Russian forces were exposed to “significant amounts” of radiation after digging trenches in a highly radioactive area, often referred to as the “red forest”.
– The information about the trenches that the racists (Russian fascists, journ.anm.) Dug in the “red forest”, the most radioactive in the entire exclusion zone, was confirmed. So it is not surprising that the occupants were exposed to significant amounts of radiation and panicked at the first sign of illness, Energoatom claims.
– As a result, a riot almost broke out among the forces, and they began to gather from there, it is further claimed.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says according to The Guardian that they have not been able to confirm the information.
“The red forest” once consisted of pine trees, but after the accident in 1986, the forest turned red after absorbing radiation from the explosion, according to the Independent.
The forest is described as dead and very radioactive – and an area where it is forbidden to stay – even for the employees at the power plant itself.
Workers at Chernobyl have previously described Russian soldiers’ lack of anti-radiation equipment in the “red forest” as “suicide”.
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