“The intruders did not dig anything on the territory of the plant itself, but the thick dust raised by the equipment during transport, and the radiation particles in it, may well have entered the bodies of the Russian occupiers through the lungs,” Valerіy said. Seyda. director of the nuclear power plant, said in a statement. “Furthermore, no one knows what the invaders did in the Red Forest and it is also possible that they received significant doses of radiation when digging trenches in this forest,” Energoatom said. The Red Forest is the most polluted part of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, according to the Reuters news agency, and even Chernobyl staff are not allowed to go there. “A large convoy of military vehicles led to a road just behind our facilities and this road passes by the Red Forest,” a source told Reuters. “The escort launched a large column of dust. Many radiation sensors showed exceeding levels.” The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement on Friday that it was unable to confirm reports that Russian troops had been exposed to high doses of radioactivity while in Chernobyl. Meanwhile, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said he would lead a mission to the plant as soon as possible. “I will lead a @IAEAorg aid and support mission to the #Chornobyl nuclear power plant as soon as possible. It will be the first of a series of such nuclear safety and security missions in #Ukraine,” Grossi wrote on Twitter. I will start a @IAEAorg help and support mission at the #Chornobyl nuclear power plant as soon as possible. It will be the first in a series of such nuclear and safety missions in #Ukraine. – Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) April 1, 2022 Yevhen Kramarenko, head of the Ukrainian service in charge of the exclusion zone, said that the level of radioactivity there now seems to be normal, but that the facilities should be checked. He also said Russian troops had been spotted in the blockade zone around the Chernobyl plant on Friday, after Energoatom said on Thursday that everyone had left the plant itself, which was seized at the start of Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine. On Thursday, Energoatom said Russian troops had also left a nearby town where people working at Chernobyl live. The Russian troops that left Chernobyl were reportedly heading towards the Ukrainian border with Belarus. Earlier this week, US and British officials said Russia was expected to redeploy its strike forces in Belarus and elsewhere under its control to launch a new offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. More Haley Ott Haley Ott is a digital reporter / producer for CBS News based in London.
