As Russian forces left the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site early on Friday, Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzheppar accused Putin’s forces of looting the dangerous plant. According to Dzheppar, Russian forces had not only looted the nuclear power plant, but also ransacked a hotel located in the same area. She alleged that the soldiers stole computers, other electronic devices and carpets from the hotel. It should be mentioned that authorities confirmed on Friday that Russian troops had left the Chernobyl nuclear site, almost two days after the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff accused Putin’s troops of accumulating at the site. nuclear. According to the Ukrainian state electricity company, Energoatom, Russian troops have returned control to the Ukrainians.

Energoatom said the Chernobyl withdrawal came after soldiers received large doses of radiation while digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. Although the International Atomic Energy Agency said it could not independently confirm the exposure claim, Yaroslav Yemelianenko, a member of the board of Ukraine’s State Agency for Environmental Zone Management exclusion, claimed that the Russian troops were falling ill. “Another batch of radiation irradiation from Russian terrorists who captured the Chernobyl zone was brought today to the Belarusian Radiation Medicine Center in Gomel,” he wrote on Facebook. “Dig trenches in the Rudu forest, bitches? Now live the rest of your short life with this. There are rules to run this territory,” he added.

Chernobyl nuclear site

It is relevant to mention here that Russian forces had attacked the nuclear power plant almost four days after starting a full-fledged war against Ukraine. This raised serious concerns about the safety and security of the site. Since then, the Ukrainian government has alleged that Russian forces were not giving plant officials enough space to properly manage the site, a claim that Moscow has repeatedly denied. In particular, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been in the process of being dismantled since the accident in 1986. According to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), significant quantities of nuclear materials remain in various facilities on the site in the form of spent fuel. and other radioactive waste.

Image: AP