Ukrainian officials claim that Russian troops who took control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant have begun fleeing from the area amid possible "acute radiation sickness" among soldiers.
The remarks were made by the state enterprise overseeing Ukraine's nuclear power plants, Energoatom, on Thursday. In the company's statement published on Telegram, it said that the occupiers of the Chernobyl plant and other facilities in the Exclusion Zone marched two columns toward the Ukrainian border with the Republic of Belarus.
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
The nuclear power plant is the area where an explosion on Apr. 26, 1986, ripped through the No. 4 reactors at Chernobyl. The resulting blast killed 30 people instantaneously and countless others lost their lives from radiation symptoms in the years that followed.
During the first week of Russia's war against Ukraine that began on Feb. 24, Moscow's military took control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and nearby territory. The troops announced on Thursday that they planned to leave the area and give back control of the plant to Ukrainian personnel, said Energoatom, as per CNN.
Russian troops were known to have dug trenches in a contaminated Red Forest near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The process is thought to be the primary reason for the soldiers suffering radiation-related health issues and is reportedly being treated in a special medical facility in Gomel, Belarus.
The Red Forest got its name from the thousands of pine trees in the area that had turned red at the time of the 1986 nuclear disaster. Authorities consider the area to be highly toxic, enough that even highly-specialized Chernobyl workers are not allowed to enter the zone.
According to Yahoo News, Energoatom said that it was no surprise for the Russian troops who dug trenches in the Red Forest to have received significant doses of radiation and developed symptoms. They argued that the first sign of illness would have shown up very quickly.
Acute Radiation Sickness
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that it was not able to confirm the claims by Energoatom and was seeking an independent assessment. Ukrainian deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk also said that Russian troops in the Red Forest were exposed to radiation.
There have been reports that claim the affected Russian soldiers were being transferred to Belarus via tanks driving through the "dead zone" near the Chernobyl plant, kicking up radioactive dust. Furthermore, Moscow's forces also retreated from the nearby town of Slavutych, where workers at the nuclear power plant live, said Energoatom.
After Russian troops took control of the Chernobyl power plant on Feb. 24, Ukrainian staff were the ones who continued to oversee the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel and supervised the concrete-encased remains of the No. 4 reactor.
The situation comes as Ukrainian officials repeatedly express safety concerns regarding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. They demanded that Russian troops withdraw from the area as their presence prevented the rotation of personnel for a time. Russia's defense ministry did not answer questions related to the claims of the Ukrainian officials, The Guardian reported.
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