Energoatom, the company, did not provide immediate details on the condition of the troops or how many were affected. However, he said the Russians had dug into the forest inside the exclusion zone around the now-closed plant, the site of the 1986 worst nuclear disaster in the world. The troops “panicked at the first sign of illness”, which “appeared very quickly” and began preparing to leave, Energoatom said. There were no immediate comments from the Kremlin. The UN nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it was preparing to send a mission to Tsornobil after Ukraine informed it that Russian troops controlling the site had withdrawn and that others were likely to withdraw. We are in close consultation with the Ukrainian authorities to send the Agency’s first aid and support mission [Chornobyl] “in the coming days,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.
Radiation hazard for soldiers
The Russians occupied the Chornobil site in the early stages of the February 24 invasion, raising fears that they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation. The workforce at the construction site oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and explosive reactor debris buried in concrete.
Tsornobil was the site of the worst nuclear disaster in the world in 1986. The acquisition of the plant by Russia has raised concerns about its safety. (Efrem Lukatsky / The Associated Press)
Ukraine’s state nuclear inspectorate said on February 25 that there had been an increase in radioactivity levels in Tsornobil as a result of heavy military vehicles shaking the ground. So far, however, no details have been released about what exactly happened.
Last week, two workers at the site told Reuters they saw Russian tanks and other armored vehicles moving through the Red Forest, which is the most radioactively contaminated part of the area around Tsornobil, about 100 kilometers north of Kiev.
The two sources said that the escort soldiers did not use any equipment against the radioactivity. A second Chornobil officer said this was “suicidal” to the soldiers because the radioactive dust they inhaled was likely to cause internal radiation to their bodies.
After the Russian troops arrived, the two factory workers worked for almost a month with their colleagues until they were allowed to go home last week, when Russian commanders allowed replacement staff to be sent.
Reuters could not independently verify their accounts.
They were interviewed by telephone on March 25 on condition of anonymity because they feared for their safety. The next day, Russian forces captured the town of Slavutych near Chornobyl, where most of the factory workers live.
Seida and the mayor of Slavutych said on Monday that Russian forces had now left the city.
Workers at the site claimed that Russian troops were crossing vehicles through a highly contaminated section of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, known as the Red Forest, without using radiation protection. (Maxar Technologies)
Reuters was unable to determine independently what the levels of radioactivity were for people in the immediate vicinity of the Russian convoy that entered the Red Forest.
The Red Forest got its name when tens of square kilometers of pine trees turned red after absorbing radiation from the 1986 eruption, one of the worst nuclear disasters in the world.
A huge area around Chornobil is out of bounds for anyone who does not work there or has a special permit, but the Red Forest is considered so polluted that even the workers at the nuclear plant are not allowed to go there.
“Reckless” actions
In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Balthasar Lindauer, director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Nuclear Safety Division, described the actions of Russian troops in the area as reckless.
“Immediately after the invasion, the site was occupied by regular military forces who apparently did not understand what the site was and we saw in the early days an increase in radiation that is very likely due to the transport of very heavy military equipment,” Lindauer said.
Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear company, Energoatom, says Russian soldiers have contracted radioactive disease after digging trenches in the forest area around the Chornobil site. (Efrem Lukatsky / The Associated Press)
“This gives you an indication that these troops do not know what they are doing and are behaving recklessly as we saw at the Zaporizhia power plant,” he added.
The Russian Defense Ministry, when asked to comment on the accounts of Chernobyl personnel, did not respond.
Fears about the level of radiation
The Russian military said after the plant was occupied that the radiation was normal and that its actions prevented possible “nuclear provocations” by Ukrainian nationalists. Russia has previously denied that its forces endangered nuclear facilities inside Ukraine. Ukraine’s state exclusion zone management said on February 27 that the last file it had on a sensor near a nuclear waste storage facility before it lost control of the monitoring system showed that the absorbed radiation dose was seven times higher than normal. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on February 25 that radioactivity levels at the Chornobil site had reached 9.46 microsieverts per hour, but remained “within a range of operation” recorded in the exclusion zone since its inception. did not pose a threat to the general population. The safe levels, according to IAEA standards listed on the agency’s official website, are up to 1 millisievert per year for the general population and 20 millisievert per year for radiation professionals, where 1 millisievert equals 1,000 microsievert. On March 9, the IAEA announced that it had stopped receiving tracking data from the Chornobil site. He gave no answer on Monday to the employees’ allegations. The Chornobil exclusion zone is still considered dangerous by the Ukrainian authorities. Entering the scene of an accident without permission is a crime under Ukrainian law.
The troops “had no idea”
In the weeks that the two factory workers shared the complex with Russian troops, they also said they did not see any of them using equipment to protect them from radiation. Specialists from the Russian army who have been trained to deal with the radiation did not arrive until just a week after the arrival of the Russian troops, the workers said. They said the Russian experts were not even wearing protective equipment. One of the officials said he had spoken to some of the Russian soldiers at the factory. “When asked if they knew about the 1986 catastrophe, the explosion of the fourth square [of the Chornobyl plant], they had no idea. “They had no idea what kind of facility they were in,” he said. “We talked to regular soldiers. All we heard from them was ‘It’s an extremely important infrastructure. That was it,’” the man said.
Doubts about the “de-escalation” of Russia
The withdrawal comes amid ongoing fighting and indications that the Kremlin is using the talks to de-escalate as cover, while concentrating and replenishing its forces and launching them into an escalating offensive in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was seeing “an accumulation of Russian forces for new strikes in Donbas and we are preparing for that.” Meanwhile, a bus convoy headed to Mariupol in another attempt to evacuate people from the besieged port city after the Russian military agreed to a limited ceasefire in the area. And a new round of talks aimed at ending the fighting was scheduled for Friday.
title: “Russian Soldiers Leave Chornobyl Nuclear Plant Ukraine Says " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-01” author: “Jeanne Kirkland”
Energoatom, the company, did not provide immediate details on the condition of the troops or how many were affected. However, he said the Russians had dug into the forest inside the exclusion zone around the now-closed plant, the site of the 1986 worst nuclear disaster in the world. The troops “panicked at the first sign of illness”, which “appeared very quickly” and began preparing to leave, Energoatom said. There were no immediate comments from the Kremlin. The UN nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it was preparing to send a mission to Tsornobil after Ukraine informed it that Russian troops controlling the site had withdrawn and that others were likely to withdraw. We are in close consultation with the Ukrainian authorities to send the Agency’s first aid and support mission [Chornobyl] “in the coming days,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.
Radiation hazard for soldiers
The Russians occupied the Chornobil site in the early stages of the February 24 invasion, raising fears that they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation. The workforce at the construction site oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and explosive reactor debris buried in concrete.
Tsornobil was the site of the worst nuclear disaster in the world in 1986. The acquisition of the plant by Russia has raised concerns about its safety. (Efrem Lukatsky / The Associated Press)
Ukraine’s state nuclear inspectorate said on February 25 that there had been an increase in radioactivity levels in Tsornobil as a result of heavy military vehicles shaking the ground. So far, however, no details have been released about what exactly happened.
Last week, two workers at the site told Reuters they saw Russian tanks and other armored vehicles moving through the Red Forest, which is the most radioactively contaminated part of the area around Tsornobil, about 100 kilometers north of Kiev.
The two sources said that the escort soldiers did not use any equipment against the radioactivity. A second Chornobil officer said this was “suicidal” to the soldiers because the radioactive dust they inhaled was likely to cause internal radiation to their bodies.
After the Russian troops arrived, the two factory workers worked for almost a month with their colleagues until they were allowed to go home last week, when Russian commanders allowed replacement staff to be sent.
Reuters could not independently verify their accounts.
They were interviewed by telephone on March 25 on condition of anonymity because they feared for their safety. The next day, Russian forces captured the town of Slavutych near Chornobyl, where most of the factory workers live.
Seida and the mayor of Slavutych said on Monday that Russian forces had now left the city.
Workers at the site claimed that Russian troops were crossing vehicles through a highly contaminated section of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, known as the Red Forest, without using radiation protection. (Maxar Technologies)
Reuters was unable to determine independently what the levels of radioactivity were for people in the immediate vicinity of the Russian convoy that entered the Red Forest.
The Red Forest got its name when tens of square kilometers of pine trees turned red after absorbing radiation from the 1986 eruption, one of the worst nuclear disasters in the world.
A huge area around Chornobil is out of bounds for anyone who does not work there or has a special permit, but the Red Forest is considered so polluted that even the workers at the nuclear plant are not allowed to go there.
“Reckless” actions
In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Balthasar Lindauer, director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Nuclear Safety Division, described the actions of Russian troops in the area as reckless.
“Immediately after the invasion, the site was occupied by regular military forces who apparently did not understand what the site was and we saw in the early days an increase in radiation that is very likely due to the transport of very heavy military equipment,” Lindauer said.
Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear company, Energoatom, says Russian soldiers have contracted radioactive disease after digging trenches in the forest area around the Chornobil site. (Efrem Lukatsky / The Associated Press)
“This gives you an indication that these troops do not know what they are doing and are behaving recklessly as we saw at the Zaporizhia power plant,” he added.
The Russian Defense Ministry, when asked to comment on the accounts of Chernobyl personnel, did not respond.
Fears about the level of radiation
The Russian military said after the plant was occupied that the radiation was normal and that its actions prevented possible “nuclear provocations” by Ukrainian nationalists. Russia has previously denied that its forces endangered nuclear facilities inside Ukraine. Ukraine’s state exclusion zone management said on February 27 that the last file it had on a sensor near a nuclear waste storage facility before it lost control of the monitoring system showed that the absorbed radiation dose was seven times higher than normal. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on February 25 that radioactivity levels at the Chornobil site had reached 9.46 microsieverts per hour, but remained “within a range of operation” recorded in the exclusion zone since its inception. did not pose a threat to the general population. The safe levels, according to IAEA standards listed on the agency’s official website, are up to 1 millisievert per year for the general population and 20 millisievert per year for radiation professionals, where 1 millisievert equals 1,000 microsievert. On March 9, the IAEA announced that it had stopped receiving tracking data from the Chornobil site. He gave no answer on Monday to the employees’ allegations. The Chornobil exclusion zone is still considered dangerous by the Ukrainian authorities. Entering the scene of an accident without permission is a crime under Ukrainian law. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, points to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on a map during a press conference at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on March 4, a day after a school building was bombed. Grossi offered to travel to Chornobil to negotiate with Ukraine and Russia to try to ensure the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities. (Joe Klamar / AFP / Getty Images)
The troops “had no idea”
In the weeks that the two factory workers shared the complex with Russian troops, they also said they did not see any of them using equipment to protect them from radiation. Specialists from the Russian army who have been trained to deal with the radiation did not arrive until just a week after the arrival of the Russian troops, the workers said. They said the Russian experts were not even wearing protective equipment. One of the officials said he had spoken to some of the Russian soldiers at the factory. “When asked if they knew about the 1986 catastrophe, the explosion of the fourth square [of the Chornobyl plant], they had no idea. “They had no idea what kind of facility they were in,” he said. “We talked to regular soldiers. All we heard from them was ‘It’s an extremely important infrastructure. That was it,’” the man said. Members of the Ukrainian army take a picture of the wreckage of a Russian helicopter that was shot down on Thursday in Malaya Rohan. The area around Kharkov was one of the heaviest bombed during the war, although a Ukrainian commander said his forces had recently recaptured it. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) A toothbrush sits next to Russian armor in Malaya Rohan. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)
Doubts about the “de-escalation” of Russia
The withdrawal comes amid ongoing fighting and indications that the Kremlin is using the talks to de-escalate as cover, while concentrating and replenishing its forces and launching them into an escalating offensive in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was seeing “an accumulation of Russian forces for new strikes in Donbas and we are preparing for that.” Meanwhile, a bus convoy headed to Mariupol in another attempt to evacuate people from the besieged port city after the Russian military agreed to a limited ceasefire in the area. And a new round of talks aimed at ending the fighting was scheduled for Friday. A resident walks in front of a building that was destroyed during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters) Pro-Russian troops from the eastern Donetsk region speak next to the body of a soldier killed in fighting in Mariupol. (Chingis Kondarov / Reuters)
