Russian soldiers disturbed radioactive dust in Chornobyl’s ‘Red Forest,’ workers say

Sources say Russian soldiers drove armoured vehicles without radiation protection through Chornobyl's Red Forest.

Russian soldiers who seized the site of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster drove their armored vehicles without radiation protection through a highly toxic zone called the “Red Forest,” kicking up clouds of radioactive dust, workers at the site said.

The two sources said soldiers in the convoy did not use any anti-radiation gear. The second Chornobyl employee said that was “suicidal” for the soldiers because the radioactive dust they inhaled was likely to cause internal radiation in their bodies.

Ukraine’s state nuclear inspectorate said on Feb. 25 there had been an increase in radiation levels at Chornobyl as a result of heavy military vehicles disturbing the soil. But until now details of what happened had not emerged.

The two Ukrainian workers who spoke to Reuters were on duty when Russian tanks entered Chornobyl on Feb. 24 and took control of the site, where staff are still responsible for the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel and supervising the concrete-encased remains of the reactor that blew up in 1986.

Both men said they witnessed Russian tanks and other armoured vehicles moving through the Red Forest, which is the most radioactively contaminated part of the zone around Chornobyl — around 100 kilometres (65 miles) north of Kyiv.

The regular soldiers had not heard about the explosion, they said.

Asked to comment on the accounts from Chornobyl staff, Russia’s defense ministry did not respond.

The Russian military said after capturing the plant that radiation was within normal levels and their actions prevented possible “nuclear provocations” by Ukrainian nationalists. Russia has previously denied its forces have put nuclear facilities in Ukraine at risk.