The source of the radioactive material in the room is not known, but Ukrainian officials say it is coming from small particles and dust that soldiers brought into the building.
“They went to the Red Forest and brought back the radioactive material on their shoes,” explains soldier Ihor Ugolkov. “Other places are fine, but the radiation increased here, because they were living here.”
CNN was given exclusive access to the power plant for the first time since it was returned to Ukraine’s control.
Plant officials say the levels inside rooms used by Russian troops are only slightly above what the World Nuclear Association describes as naturally occurring radiation. One time contact will not be dangerous but continuous contact will cause health hazard.
“They went everywhere, and they even took some radioactive dust on them [when they left]”, says Ugolkov.
Ukrainian authorities have released drone footage of trenches dug by Russian troops in the area, which is notably radioactive. In a safe location, at the edges of that area, CNN spotted a Russian military ration box that displayed radiation levels 50 times higher than naturally occurring values.
“It’s crazy, really,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko told CNN at the plant. “I really don’t know why they did this (go to the red forest).
“But we can see that they went there, the soldiers who went there came back here and the radiation level went up.”
Although Chernobyl is not an active power plant, the coffin atop the reactor that exploded some 36 years ago must be maintained to avoid further radiation leakage. There is also a huge amount of spent nuclear fuel that needs attention.
“That confinement must have electricity, it must have a ventilation system and so on,” explains Galushenko. “When the country cannot control it, and we are responsible, Ukraine is responsible for security, of course, it is a threat.”
[Our staff] Were here from the first day of business, and they were likely to be replaced after only a month,” he says. There is pressure every day. Soldiers, it’s a really tough job.”
They say that the workers were working under tremendous pressure not only because of what was happening in Chernobyl, but also because of the news they were getting from the outside world.
“Our relatives started calling and saying the city was being raided, that there were wounded and dead,” he says. “We asked the Russians what was going on and they said there were no regular Russian troops but we continued to hear that there was shelling.”
Falshovnyk also accused Russian soldiers of robbing the power plant.
“They gave us personnel from Rosatom (Russian nuclear agency) to escort us, and in their escort we visited open warehouses. They rob these warehouses all the time,” he says.
The operations under those conditions were intense, but nothing compared to what the security staff endured.
According to Ukraine’s interior minister, 169 Ukraine National Guard soldiers guarding the facility were locked in the plant’s Cold War-era underground nuclear bunker, cramped without natural light, fresh air or communication with the outside world. in quarters. were closed. ,
“He was kept here for 30 days without adequate lighting and food,” says Denis Monastirsky, who was standing inside the bunker. He was not allowed to go out. On the last day he was taken from here in an unknown direction.
The minister says he believes the men may have been taken to Russia via Belarus as prisoners of war, but does not know for sure.
“Today we unfortunately know nothing about his fate,” he says.
CNN showed the inside of the bunker and elsewhere usually occupied by plant workers by Ukrainian officials, who claimed that Russian soldiers ransacked the place. Clothes, cleaning supplies and other personal belongings were scattered on the floor.
“The Russian army went in search of all Ukrainian clothes, personal items such as dogs, perhaps, money, valuables, laptops,” Monastyrsky continues. “The looting was happening. The Russian military stole computers and equipment.”
Little is said about what Moscow did to its troops in Chernobyl. The last time the Russian Defense Ministry mentioned the nuclear site was on 26 February, confirming its possession and claiming that it made arrangements to ensure the safety of power units, coffins and storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel. Was. ,
Chernobyl is not the only case
Ukrainian officials say the Russian military’s behavior and its treatment of Ukrainian workers at the Chernobyl power plant highlight the danger posed by Moscow’s invasion as it gains control of plants in other regions.
“The situation there is also dire,” says Energy Minister Galushenko, especially noting how they hold Zaporizhzhya as they fired heavy weapons at the station.
“This is really an act of nuclear terrorism,” he says. “I am also not saying that they are the position of the shelling stations as well as the Zaporizhzhya NPP, but there is a danger when we do not have the possibility to be responsible for nuclear security.”
And despite Ukraine regaining control of Chernobyl, Ukrainian officials fear Russian troops may try to retreat.
“We understand that today we must be prepared for a new attack on a nuclear power plant at any moment. We will use best world experience to ensure that the station is safe because the border is only a few dozen kilometers away,” Interior Minister Monastirsky says.
“What do we see” [in Chernobyl] A vivid example of outrage over a nuclear facility. The responsibility of keeping the stations safe is not only of Ukraine but of the whole world. [in Zaporizhzhia]This history should never repeat itself.”
Monastirsky says his country needs continued international support to do so.
“We are ready to invest in the future of Ukraine and the future security of the world,” he continued, reiterating his government’s call for additional weapons to be sent to Ukraine.
“Today the boundary between authoritarianism and democracy passes behind our backs, the boundary between freedom and oppression,” he says. We are ready to fight for it.”