How is the situation in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that was taken for several weeks by the Russian military

The old nuclear power plant Chernobylin the north of Ukraine, was taken by Russian forces on the first day of the invasion. It is now under the control of Ukraine again.

BBC correspondent Yogita Limaye is one of the first journalists to enter the plant since the Russians left.

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On the afternoon of February 24, Russian forces surrounded Chernobyl with tanks and armored vehiclesentering Ukraine from the border with Belarus, about 16 km away.

About 170 Ukrainian national guardsmen guarding the plant were taken to the basement and kept captives there. Russian soldiers then searched the facility for weapons and explosives.

Engineers, supervisors, and other technical personnel were allowed to they will continue working. Over the next two days, workers from Rosatom, the Russian atomic energy agency, arrived.

Engineer Valeriy Semonov, one of the workers at the Chernobyl plant.

The Chernobyl staff was interested in maintaining control of the maintenance of the plant, which, although not in operation, stores radioactive waste from the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

Since the 1986 accident, billions of dollars have been spent to clean up and contain the pollution.

If conditions at the site are not properly controlled, there is a high risk of nuclear material being released.

avoid a catastrophe

“They wanted to know how the facility was run. They wanted information about all the procedures, documents and operations. I was scared because the interrogation was constant and sometimes strong,” says Oleksandr Lobada, radiation safety supervisor at the station.

The guards of the plant remained captive in rooms like this one, in which their belongings are observed.

On the top floor of the main power plant building are key rooms from which the site is controlled, located on both sides of a long, narrow passage. Some of those rooms were closed.

The Russians, not finding the keys, cut off the part of the door in which the lock was embedded and broke into the rooms.

“We had to constantly negotiate with them and strive to don’t offend themto let our staff run the facility,” says engineer Valeriy Semonov.

When power to the station was cut off for three days, Valeriy says he scrambled to find fuel to keep the generator running, even resorting to steal something from the Russians.

“If we had run out of power, it could have been catastrophicOleksandr explains.

“Radioactive material could have been released. You can imagine the scale of that. I wasn’t afraid for my life. I was afraid of what would happen if I wasn’t there monitoring the plant. I was afraid it would be a tragedy for humanity.

Oleksandr Lobada says that the Russians wanted to know all the details about the operation of the plant.

exposed to radiation

The area behind the plant, called “Red Forest”, is one of the places most radioactive on Earth.

Drone footage released by the Ukrainian military shows that Russian soldiers dug trenches and even stayed there. This was also confirmed to the BBC by station officials.

That shows how little the soldiers knew about nuclear safety.

Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy agency, has said that Russian soldiers were exposed to “significant doses” of radiation.

Just outside the sarcophagus protecting the damaged nuclear reactor, Russian soldiers piled sandbags behind which they could hide if attacked.

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (left) visited the plant after the withdrawal of Russian soldiers.

Valeriy scoffs at this and says that the Ukrainian army would not even dream of shooting at a nuclear reactor.

Downstairs in the basement of the main building are dormitory-style rooms that were completely ransacked.

The flat is littered with rugs, mattresses, clothes, shoes and other belongings from the Ukrainian National Guard who were held there.

Officials at Chernobyl say Russian soldiers looted what they could when they left, and they also took captive members of the national guard with them.

“We were able to keep the site secure. But it is disturbing that 169 of our military have been taken away,” says Valeriy.

Satellite image of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES)

It is not confirmed where the men are being held, but Chernobyl staff believe they are in Russia.

Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s former president, visited Chernobyl on Friday with food and other supplies for the plant’s staff.

Access to the facilities has just been opened through an alternate route. The bridge to Chernobyl was blown up to stop the Russian advance.

Former President Poroshenko has a warning for the world.

“Are we sure that tomorrow the Russian troops can’t show up here? My answer would be no. Putin is completely unpredictable. And nuclear smoke is not limited by borders. It can reach Eastern Europe, Central Europe and even Great Britain. The danger of nuclear contamination of Europe is very high as long as Russia continues this war.”

With reporting by Imogen Anderson.

Source: Elcomercio