Ukraine Says Russian Soldiers Took Highly Radioactive "Souvenirs" From Chernobyl

The Ukrainian government has said that Russian soldiers, who had seized the Chernobyl nuclear plant during the war last month, stole highly radioactive items as "souvenirs" from two laboratories. The State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management said in a Facebook post that invading Russian forces entered two laboratories in Chernobyl, which they looted and destroyed in an act of “nuclear terrorism”. 

A Google translation of the post showed the agency claiming that the troops “stole and damaged 133 sources with a total activity of about seven million becquerels”. It added that this number is comparable to 1,534 pounds of radioactive waste with the presence of beta and gamma radiation. "Even a small fraction of this activity is lethal if handled unprofessionally or uncontrollably," the post further said.

Moreover, according to the Ukrainian agency, Russian troops also looted and damaged the offices and laboratory of the Institute for Nuclear Safety, stealing computers and office equipment. It informed that the laboratories had sources of ionizing radiation and samples of fuel-containing materials.

It is still not clear where these materials are now, according to Vice News. But the agency believes that the items might have been left somewhere in the exclusion zone.

"In the case of carrying such a souvenir with you for two weeks, radiation burns are guaranteed, and radiation diseases and non-reversible processes in the body begin," the agency added.

For now, Ukraine is working to determine the impact of Russia's damage to the site. It stated that the level of containment, the safety of calibration dumps and radioactively contaminated fluids cannot be determined. The status of contaminated substances will be clarified after appropriate inventories and measurements have been made, the post read. 

Meanwhile, it is to note that when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, it seized the power plant and the 20-mile exclusion zone that surrounds it. However, in early April Ukraine said that it had regained control and the Russian forces had withdrawn.