Russian Troops Stole Highly Radioactive Items From Chernobyl Seemingly Unaware Of Danger

Russian troops who inhabited Chernobyl for over a month reportedly took “souvenirs” from the site, according to a Facebook post from the State Agency of Ukraine For Exclusion Zone Management.

Russian soldiers seized the power plant on February 24. Chernobyl was the site of the World’s worst nuclear disaster 36 years ago, as the explosion killed 30 people. The radiation from the explosion continued to take lives for years to come.

The Facebook post said that the soldiers took highly radioactive items from two laboratories in an act of “nuclear terrorism.”

“Occupiers stole and damaged 133 sources with a total activity of about seven million becquerels,” an English translation of the post said. “This can be compared with 1543 pounds of radioactive waste with the presence of beta and radiation gamma. Even a small portion of this activity is deadly dangerous when handled in an unprofessional or uncontrollable manner.”

“Currently, the location of the stolen sources is unknown,” the post continued. “The degree of preservation and safety of calibration sources and sample radioactive solutions is impossible to be established, and the condition of the damaged will be determined after the appropriate inventory and measurements are carried out.”

The agency added a warning to the Russian troops.

“In the case of carrying such a souvenir with you for 2 weeks, radiation burns are guaranteed and radiation diseases and non-reversible processes in the body begin.