The Security Service of Ukraine has collected evidence that the units of the Russian army, which seized the facilities of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and controlled them in the period from February 24 to March 31, 2022, committed an act of nuclear terrorism.
SBU spokesman Artem Dekhtiarenko said that the service informed about the suspicion of the Russian, who gave the order to storm the Chornobyl NPP, is the former deputy commander of the Siberian District of the Russian Guard, Major General Yakushev.
Also, the suspicion was reported to the deputy commander of the joint special unit of the Russian Guard in the Bryansk oblast, Colonel Frolenkov, who directly supervised the actions of his subordinates.
The special service also released footage from surveillance cameras, which were previously shown.
Although the reactors are inactive, the Chornobyl nuclear power plant remains a huge complex with three repositories of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.
However, by turning this facility into a military base, Russia grossly violated the Geneva Convention, which directly prohibits attacks on nuclear facilities in armed conflict.
During the period of temporary occupation, the invaders violated all nuclear safety norms:
- damaged the premises, mined the territory, and provoked a number of fires, thus starting uncontrolled processes;
- prevented regular external monitoring of radiation and continuous supply of spare parts, fuel and consumables;
- kept staff in stressful conditions, increasing the likelihood of professional mistakes.
During the occupation, a large amount of heavy military equipment, weapons and more than a thousand soldiers of the Russian Federation were constantly stationed in the exclusion zone.
In addition, the occupiers equipped five firing points, damaged communication towers, caused a fire that destroyed 14,000 hectares of forest, and also looted enterprises of the Exclusion Zone on the territory of the repository, where work is carried out with spent materials from plutonium-239 reactors.
"21 sources of ionizing radiation with a total activity of almost 7 million Bq were stolen. This is enough to make an area of almost 2,000 square meters unsafe for people to live in," added the spokesman of the SBU.