Russian soldiers searched the room where officers slept and looted some of their belongings, according to a shift manager at the Chernobyl site. (Vasco Cotovio / CNN)
The sudden beeping of the radiation device fills the room when a Ukrainian soldier enters. This is where Russian soldiers lived at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and radiation levels are now higher than normal.
There is no visible presence of the source of the radioactive material in the room, but Ukrainian authorities say it came from small particles and dust that soldiers brought into the building.
“They went to the Red Forest and brought radioactive material with them to their shoes,” explains soldier Igor Ugolkov. “Other places are fine, but the radiation here has increased because they lived here.”
CNN gained exclusive access to the power plant for the first time since returning to Ukrainian control.
Officials at the plant explain that the levels in the room used by Russian soldiers are just above what the World Nuclear Association describes as natural radiation. A single contact would not be dangerous, but prolonged exposure would be a health hazard.
“They went everywhere and also took some radioactive dust on them [when they left]”, Adds Ugolkov.
This is an example of what the Ukrainian authorities say is the careless and careless behavior of Russian soldiers while they controlled the site of the 1986 nuclear accident. The area around Chernobyl, namely the Red Forest, is still the most nuclear-contaminated area. on the planet, with most of the radioactive particles present in the soil.
Ukrainian authorities have released drone footage of what they say are trenches dug by Russian troops in the area, who are particularly radioactive. In a safe place, at the edge of this zone, CNN saw a Russian military ration box that shows radiation levels 50 times above natural values.
Russian troops have held Chernobyl for a month and are believed to have operated in contaminated areas most of the time.
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