IAEA investigations claim that the Russians fled Chernobyl due to radiation sickness | Ukraine

The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency is investigating Ukrainian allegations that Russian soldiers occupying the Chernobyl nuclear power plant left after receiving high doses of radiation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it could not confirm the allegations by Ukraine’s state energy company, Energotom, and was seeking an independent evaluation.

Energoatom said the Russians dug trenches in the jungle inside the exclusion zone at the site The worst nuclear disaster in the worldand that the troops “panicked at the first sign of illness” which “sprang up very quickly” and began preparing to leave.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Irina Vereshchuk, claimed that Russian forces digging trenches in the forest were exposed to radiation, but this has not been independently verified.

Some reports indicated that the soldiers were sent to a special medical facility in Belarus after driving tanks through the “dead zone” around the nuclear plant, raising radioactive dust.

Russian forces also retreated from the vicinity The town of Slavutichwhere workers live in Chernobyl, says Energoatum.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was preparing to send its first “assistance and support mission” to Chernobyl in the north Ukraine In the next few days.

Although Russian soldiers Capture Chernobyl Shortly after the February 24 invasion, Ukrainian plant employees continued to oversee the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel and the remains of the concrete-encased reactor that exploded in 1986, causing the world’s worst nuclear accident.

In a separate publication, Energoatom said that the Russian side had formally agreed to return responsibility for protecting Chernobyl to Ukraine. She shared a scan of a document signed by people she identified as a senior Chernobyl employee and the Russian military official charged with guarding Chernobyl. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the document.

Ukraine has repeatedly expressed safety concerns about Chernobyl and has demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces, whose presence has prevented personnel rotation for some time.

In response to a request to comment on the accounts of Chernobyl employees, the Russian Defense Ministry did not respond.