Invaders Militarize Chernobyl NPP: Ukraine Requests UN Mission to the Exclusion Zone

Militarization of Chernobyl NPP exclusion zone creates a nuclear hazard not only for Ukraine, but for the entire Europe in general, according to Iryna Vereshchuk, the Minister of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, who recently addressed the international community.

Exclusion Zone Militarization

Vereshchuk emphasized that Russians continue to militarize NPP exclusion zone. This creates a serious threat for integrity of isolation structures built above the fourth generating unit after the explosion in 1986.

“Any damage will inevitable cause the release of high quantities of radioactive dust into atmosphere and nuclear contamination not only Ukraine, but in other European countries as well”, the Minister warned.

According to her, the invaders ignore these threats and continue to handle and store significant quantities of ammunitions in the close proximity to the nuclear plant.

In particular, Russian troops daily transport dozens of tons of rocket ammunitions, artillery ordinance and mortar cartridge through the city of Prypiat just a few hundred meters away from nuclear plant isolation structures.

Thousands of tons of ammunitions are stored at the nearby city of Chernobyl in the close proximity to the nuclear plant site.

Vereshchuk also noted that recently Russian invaders started to frequently use outdated and non-confirming ordinance which increases the risk of spontaneous detonation even during transport handling. 

Fires

The actions by Russian troops caused major fires in the exclusion zone with potentially catastrophic consequences.

“However, the first responders cannot properly control and extinguish the fires, since most of the territories are occupied by invasion military forces”, the Minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories stated.

The reminded that the fires result in release of radioactive combustion products, which can be carried by the wind to a significant distance. This creates a radiation hazard bot only for Ukraine, but also for other European countries.

The loss of control over the exclusion zone and inability to curb the fires adds another threat for nuclear facilities located in this area.

Chernobyl NPP Personnel Rotation

Iryna Vereshchuk also announced that the government managed to successfully complete rotation of Chernobyl NPP personnel. The previous shift spent almost 600 hours at the plant, forced to performed their duties under the constant pressure and coercion by invaders. 

They were substituted by a new shift of 59 nuclear engineers, including 6 women.

"All these people are currently considered the hostages of Russian military”, the Minister explained.

UN Mission

Vereshchuk emphasized that such irresponsible and reckless actions by Russian military create a very serious nuclear threat not only for Ukraine, but also for millions of European citizens.

Ukraine demands from UN Security Council to take immediate actions in order to demilitarize Chernobyl NPP exclusion zone and deploy the special UN mission in order to eliminate the risk of another Chernobyl accident.

Read also:

• There is a high risk of detonation: the Russian occupiers are placing shells near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

• Chernihiv Lies in Ruins, More Than 200 Civilians Were Killed – the Mayor about Situation in City

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