Russia Accused of Stealing Deadly Substance from Chernobyl . Research Laboratory

KYIV, KOMPAS.com – Russian troops occupying the Chernobyl nuclear plant stole a radioactive substance from a research laboratory that could potentially kill them, the Ukrainian Exclusion Zone Management Agency said on Sunday (10/4/2022).

Moscow troops seize the dead nuclear power plant on the first day of their invasion of Ukraine, February 24.

They occupied the highly radioactive zone for more than a month, before retreating on March 31.

Read also: The story of the Chernobyl Nuclear Engineer, Forced to Steal Russian Fuel to Prevent Disaster

The Ukrainian Exclusion Zone Management said on Facebook that Russian troops looted two laboratories in the area.

It said Russia entered the storage area of ​​the Ecocentre research base and stole 133 highly radioactive substances.

“A fraction of these activities are lethal if handled unprofessionally,” the agency said AFP on Sunday (10/4/2022).

Earlier this week, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Gulashchenko said Russian soldiers were exposed to “shocking” amounts of nuclear radiation.

Some of them, he said, may only have less than a year to live.

Read also: Russian troops leave Chernobyl by taking Ukrainian soldiers as hostages

“They dug up radiation-contaminated vacant land, collected radioactive sand in bags for fortifications, inhaled this dust,” Gulashchenko said on Facebook Friday after visiting the exclusion zone.

“After a month of exposure like that, they have a maximum life of one year. More precisely, not living but dying slowly from disease,” the minister said.