The Associated Press reports that the Kremlin hasmade no comment about the radiation claims.
It’s unclear why the soldiers are leaving the plant, which was taken over in February, though Energoatom claims it might have to do with the soldiers having built fortifications and trenches in the Red Forest, the 4-square-mile area surrounding the Nuclear Power Plant and one of the most contaminated sites on earth.
According to the company’s statement on Telegram, the Russian soldiers “received significant doses of radiation and panicked at the first sign of illness.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recognizes the immediate death toll as 31 — a number that includes plant workers and firefighters responding to the disaster — though many more people ultimately died as a result of the radiation exposure.
A “sarcophagus” surrounding the nuclear reactors provides a shield covering the radiation materials stored at the site.
“People who don’t know what they are doing, if they try to interfere with the sarcophagus or storage facilities, it could expose people to high doses of radiation,” she said in an earlier interview.
Russia’sattack on Ukrainecontinues after their forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyycalled for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
