Ukrainian forces in the abandoned city of Pripyat near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
(Picture: AP)Russian forces are “militarising” the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear plant, a senior Ukrainian official has warned, increasing the risk of radiation being released across Europe.
Deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk accused Vladimir Putin’s forces of “irresponsible” acts at the occupied power station, the site of the world’s worst civil nuclear incident in 1986.
The Russian army has held the site since the first days of the invasion, which began on February 24. Reports later emerged that staff maintaining facilities had been prevented from leaving and were being held hostage by Mr Putin’s troops.
Ms Vereshchuk said that the “irresponsible and unprofessional actions” of Russian troops at the site “present a very serious threat to Ukraine”.
She claimed that Russian forces were transporting large amounts of old and poorly maintained weapons, creating a risk that the containment vessel constructed around the plant’s wrecked fourth reactor could be damaged.
“In the context of nuclear safety, the irresponsible and unprofessional actions of Russian servicemen present a very serious threat not only to Ukraine but to hundreds of millions of Europeans,” Ms Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram.
“We therefore demand that the UN Security Council adopt immediate measures to demilitarise the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl station as well as dispatching a special mission to eliminate the risks of any repeat of the Chernobyl accident resulting from the actions of Russian occupying forces.”
Ms Vereshchuk added that damage to the containment vessel would “inevitably lead to the release in the atmosphere of a considerable amount of radioactive dust and contamination not only in Ukraine but also in other European countries”.
The Standard could not independently verify Ms Vereshchuk’s claims.
The explosion in Chernobyl’s fourth reactor in 1986 spread radiation as far away as Britain and Spain, with thousands of deaths linked to the aftermath of the incident. At the time, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. It has since constructed a 20-mile exclusion zone around the site.
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s state power company said the power line supplying the nuclear plant had been damaged following fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops.
The Kremlin has been criticised for repeatedly targeting nuclear facilities in the country. Mr Putin’s troops sparked international concern after shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, causing multiple fires on the site.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement it was closely monitoring the situation and expressed concern about the ability of staff to rotate in and out of the station.
