Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘irresponsible acts’ near Chernobyl, seeks UN help

Just days after Russian forces destroyed a functioning laboratory at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, Ukraine has accused Moscow of “irresponsible acts” near the plant which could send radiation across much of Europe. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Sunday that Russian forces were militarising the exclusion zone around Chernobyl. The nuclear plant is currently not in use and all its reactors have been taken out of service.

Vereshchuk said they (Russian forces) were transporting huge amounts of old and badly maintained weapons, creating a risk of damaging the containment vessel constructed around the plant’s fourth reactor. “In the context of nuclear safety, the irresponsible and unprofessional actions of Russian servicemen present a very serious threat not only to Ukraine but to hundreds of millions of Europeans,” Vereshchuk said on her Telegram handle, according to reports.

She added that the Russian forces were preventing firefighters from dousing a large number of fires in the exclusion zone.