Chernobyl staff forced to steal Russian fuel

CHERNOBYL workers told last night how they had to steal fuel from Russian troops to prevent another radioactive leak at the former nuclear power plant.

The site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986 was taken over by Russian forces on the first day of the invasion in February but liberated last week.

Chernobyl is no longer a working power station, yet if conditions at the site are not monitored properly, there is a major risk of a release of nuclear material. Billions of euro have been spent since the accident to contain further contamination.

Workers at the site said teams from Russia’s atomic energy agency Rosatom were brought in after invading soldiers seized the plant on February 24.

Oleksandr Lobada, a radiation safety supervisor, told the BBC, ‘They wanted to know how the facility was managed. They wanted information about all the procedures, documents and operations. I was scared because the questioning was constant, and sometimes forceful.

‘If we had lost power, it could have been catastrophic. Radioactive material could have been released. The scale of it, you can well imagine. I wasn’t scared for my life. I was scared about what would happen if I wasn’t there monitoring the plant. I was scared it would be a tragedy for humanity.’

Engineer Valeriy Semonov said staff scrambled to find fuel to keep the generator running, even resorting to stealing some from the Russians after power was cut off for three days.

‘We had to constantly negotiate with them, and try hard not to offend them, so that they allowed our personnel to manage the facility,’ he said.

Officials said Russian soldiers looted what they could when they left, and also took 169 members of the Ukrainian national guard with them. ‘We were able to keep the site safe. But it’s upsetting that they took 169 of our military,’ said Mr Semonov.

Chernobyl’s staff said they believed the prisoners of war have been taken to Russia.

Meanwhile, drone footage released by the Ukrainians illustrates how Russian troops dug trenches in an area behind the plant known as the ‘Red Forest’ – said to be one of the most radioactive locations in the world – and slept in them. According to Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power agency, the Russian soldiers were exposed to ‘significant doses’ of radiation.

Former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko visited Chernobyl on Friday with food and other supplies. He said: ‘Are we sure that tomorrow Russian troops cannot appear here again? My answer would be no. Putin is completely unpredictable.

And nuclear smoke is not limited by borders. The danger of nuclear contamination of Europe is very high while Russia continues this war.’