Ukraine has warned that Russian troops have stolen “unstable” nuclear samples after ransacking a lab at the Chernobyl power plant.
According to The State Agency of Ukraine, Putin’s men are then believed to have destroyed the £5 million lab, which was full of nuclear waste and located in a radioactive exclusion zone.
The agency, which was in charge of the site of the world’s worst nuclear meltdown in 1986, stated that the stolen radionuclides are “highly active.”
Radionuclides are unstable atoms of chemical elements that emit radiation; the fact that they are now in Russian hands is a major concern.
It hoped that with their lethal loot from the November Central Analytical Laboratory, Russian troops would “harm themselves rather than the civilised world.”
The agency stated in a statement, “The laboratory contained highly active samples and radionuclide samples that are now in the hands of the enemy.”
The agency went on to say that, while Chernobyl has been decommissioned, the lab contained cutting-edge technology not found anywhere else in Europe.
The site was part of a European Union-funded programme to improve radioactive waste and material management by analysing samples on-site.
Worryingly, radiation levels released by the lab’s destruction cannot be measured because the Russians destroyed the monitoring system, according to Energoatom, the state nuclear company.
Since the invasion, communications with the site have been sporadic.
As one of their first objectives, the Russian military seized the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the first week of the invasion.
Following the attack radiation levels did rise in the area but experts suggested this was due to troop and vehicle movement.
Chernobyl is surrounded by a 2,600-square-kilometer exclusion zone, and few people live there.
The exclusion zone has the highest level of radioactive contamination, and public access and inhabitation are restricted.
According to Reuters, a US defence official said on Wednesday that Russia’s combat power in Ukraine has fallen below 90% of pre-invasion levels for the first time since the war began.
According to the estimates, Russia will suffer significant losses.
Russian losses are estimated to be 15,600 men.
While the UN reports 953 civilian deaths and 1,557 injuries among Ukrainians, the true figure is expected to be much higher.
