Nuclear risk 'nightmare': Details of Russia's takeover of Chornobyl

Chornobyl nuclear power plant workers say they were held at gunpoint and had to work for more than a month straight with little food or sleep. Scientists and officials watched in disbelief from afar at some of the activity of Russian forces around the damaged reactor.

Thousands of tanks and troops rumbled into the forested Chornobyl exclusion zone in the earliest hours of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, churning up highly contaminated soil from the site of the 1986 accident that was the world's worst nuclear disaster.

For more than a month, some Russian soldiers bunked in the earth within sight of the massive structure built to contain radiation from the damaged Chornobyl nuclear reactor. A close inspection of their trenches was impossible because even walking on the dirt is discouraged.

As the 36th anniversary of the April 26, 1986, disaster approaches and Russia’s invasion continues, it’s clear that Chornobyl — a relic of the Cold War — was never prepared for this.

With scientists and others watching in disbelief from afar, Russian forces flew over the long-closed plant, ignoring the restricted airspace around it. They held personnel still working at the plant at gunpoint during a marathon shift of more than a month, with employees sleeping on tabletops and eating just twice a day.