Ukraine warns of a new radioactive danger due to the situation at “Chernobyl”

Kyiv – Archyde.com
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Irina Vereshchuk, accused Russia of “irresponsible” actions around the occupied Chernobyl power plant, which might send radiation across much of Europe, and urged the United Nations to dispatch a risk assessment mission.
Vereshchuk said Russian forces were working to “militarize” the exclusion zone around the plant, which witnessed the world’s worst civilian nuclear accident in 1986.
She added that the Russian forces are transporting large quantities of old weapons, which have not been subject to good maintenance, which may cause damage to the containment vessel that was built around the destroyed fourth reactor of the station to prevent the spread of radioactive materials in the environment.
Russian forces prevent firefighters from controlling a large number of fires in the area.
“In the context of nuclear safety, the irresponsible and unprofessional behavior of Russian soldiers poses a very serious threat not only to Ukraine, but to hundreds of millions of Europeans,” Vereshchuk said on her Telegram account.
“Therefore, we call on the UN Security Council to take immediate measures to make the restricted area around Chernobyl free of weapons, as well as to send a special mission to prevent any recurrence of the Chernobyl accident as a result of the actions of the Russian occupation forces,” she added.
She explained that any damage to the containment vessel, which was built with European funding, “will inevitably lead to the emission of a large amount of radioactive dust and pollution into the atmosphere, not only in Ukraine but also in other European countries.”
She said Russia was “ignoring these risks” by continuing to move weapons in areas close to the station.
A fire and explosion in 1986 in the fourth reactor at the Chernobyl plant caused a radioactive leak, and its reach as far as Britain and Spain, and thousands of deaths were linked to the effects of the accident and the radiation from the reactor.
All of the plant’s reactors are now out of service.
Russian forces occupied the Chernobyl plant in the early days of the invasion last month, and for a time prevented technicians responsible for maintenance work from leaving or on duty with others.