KYIV (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Ukraine claims the Russian army took radiation dosimeters and trucks from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as looting or damaging over 1,000 computers.
Nuclear equipment was not harmed, according to the information director of Chernobyl, Vitaliy Medved, and “regarding radiation safety, everything is ok.”
The cost of the Russian occupation, which is now over, is estimated to be more than 1.6 billion hryvnia (£44 million; $54 million).
In 1986, a reactor explosion at Chernobyl released radiation over Europe.
The disused factory, located north of Kyiv near the Belarus border, was rapidly taken by Russian troops during their invasion on February 24.
The factory was under Russian control for five weeks before Russian forces withdrew on March 31.
A team from the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) just returned from Chernobyl and the surrounding 2,700-square-kilometre (1,040-square-mile) exclusion zone.
According to an IAEA statement, “they offered support to their Ukrainian counterparts in the areas of radiation protection, waste management safety, and nuclear security.
The radiation levels at the Chernobyl site are currently safe, according to Ukraine’s nuclear inspectorate of Ukraine who confirmed this information to the BBC.
However, there are certain radioactive hotspots in the exclusion zone, which Chernobyl’s administrators blame Russian military operations for, which included digging trenches and driving vehicles that churned up dust.
Thousands of Russian vehicles, including tanks, had travelled through the zone, according to Yevhen Kramarenko, the head of the exclusion zone administration. He said that Russia had stationed over 1,000 troops at Chernobyl.
Russian soldiers had grabbed “computer monitors, hard drives, and software,” Mr Medved told the BBC. They were still looking into the losses. There were over 1,000 units, and whatever they hadn’t stolen, they were broken, he added.
He claimed that several soldiers removed spare wheels from their armoured personnel carriers in order to transport more looted equipment. He said that construction and firefighting vehicles had been stolen, although he could not provide a figure.
The Russian military has faced accusations of plundering in other parts of Ukraine, but has made no statement. It disputes that civilians are being targeted indiscriminately.
The losses at Chernobyl, according to acting director-general Valeriy Seyda, were over 1.6 billion hryvnia. He claims that operations have resumed in a safe manner. The team, with the assistance of the IAEA, must closely monitor the dormant reactors and conduct scientific testing.
According to Mr Seyda, Russian troops wrecked and robbed Chernobyl’s workshops, labs, and offices.
He claimed that their disregard for safety norms “created some deterioration in [the] radioactive situation,” which he stated has since been rectified.
According to Mr Seyda, Ukraine has now de-mined the area and disposed of any remaining ammunition. He stated that while repairs to the damaged facilities have begun, it is now more important than ever to maintain safe operations for radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
Staff from Slavutych, a nearby town, had previously commuted simply by train, according to Mr Medved. However, the bridges were now blown, and there was no direct way; they needed to travel by bus through Kyiv, he added.
He also stated that the fate of 196 Ukrainian soldiers taken by Russians at Chernobyl was still unknown.
Ukraine is now in possession of eight reactors connected to the grid: two at the now Russia occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant, two at the South Ukraine power plant, three at Rivne and one at Khmelnytskyy. Its other seven reactors are either shut down or kept in reserve for routine maintenance.
