In particular, law enforcement officers have documentary evidence of the theft of 21 sources of ionizing radiation.
The Security Service of Ukraine has collected unconditional evidence that the units of the Russian armed forces carried out the forcible seizure of the facilities of the state specialized enterprise "Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant" and controlled them from February 24 to March 31, committing an act of nuclear terrorism. This is stated in the message of the SBU.
As noted in the report, despite the reactors not working, the enterprise remains a huge complex with three storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel and a number of sites with radioactive waste.
"By turning this facility into its temporary military base, the Russian Federation grossly violated the Geneva Convention, which expressly prohibits attacks on nuclear facilities in conditions of armed conflict," the SBU stressed.
It was established that on February 24, the military from the Russian Federation, threatening personnel with the use of heavy weapons, entered the territory of the Chornobyl NPP and nuclear waste storage facilities.
During the temporary occupation, the invaders also violated all nuclear safety standards: they damaged the premises, mined the territory and provoked a number of fires, thereby launching uncontrolled processes; making it impossible for regular external monitoring of radiation and the continuous supply of spare parts, fuel and consumables; kept staff under stress, increasing the likelihood of professional errors.
The SBU has documentary evidence at its disposal that during the occupation, a large amount of heavy military equipment, weapons and more than 1,000 military personnel of the Russian Federation were constantly located on the territory of the Exclusion Zone; 300 and 30 soldiers, respectively, were located directly on the territory of radiation-hazardous facilities and the storage facility KHOYAT-2 (an intermediate storage facility for spent nuclear fuel of the "dry" type).
There is also documentary evidence that on the territory of the storage facility, where work is carried out with spent materials from reactors with plutonium-239, the invaders equipped 5 firing points; the territory of the Exclusion Zone was mined: more than 100 mines and 3 explosions were detected; in early March, the invaders damaged the communication towers, which led to the failure of the radiation situation monitoring system.
In addition, the SBU confirms that on March 9, the enterprise was almost completely de-energized, which practically paralyzed the operation of all control and security systems. In particular, the spent nuclear fuel cooling system was turned off.
Among other things, as a result of hostilities and deliberate arson, according to the systems of NASA and the European Space Agency, significant fires were recorded on the Exclusion Zone's territory during the occupying forces' stay in an area of ​​almost 14 thousand hectares. The impossibility of access for firefighters aggravated the situation to extinguish them.
The SBU also has confirmation that the invaders plundered the enterprises of the Exclusion Zone, in particular, a fleet of specialized equipment and stole fuel.
"The unique Ecocenter laboratory, 6 million euros for the equipment of which was allocated by the European Commission, was looted and virtually destroyed. The equipment purchased with funds from Fukushima University to implement the Japanese-Ukrainian project under the SATREPS program was also stolen. During the occupation, the physical protection system in Chornobyl and a mobile laboratory for radiation reconnaissance worth UAH 2.5 million was stolen," the SBU said.
In addition, there is confirmation of the theft of 21 sources of ionizing radiation with a total activity of about 7 million Bq. "This is enough to make a plot of almost 2,000 square meters dangerous for people to stay," the SBU explained.
The occupiers also carried out excavation work on the territory of the Ryzhiy Les (Red Forest) temporary localization point for radioactive waste.
"The territory of the Exclusion Zone has not yet been cleared of mines. This violates the integrity of the radiation safety system of the facility, which Ukraine has been building with international partners for decades. The probability of uncontrolled explosions and fires caused by them is still too high," the SBU noted.
It is noted that as part of the investigation of crimes, a suspicion was reported to the invader who gave the order to storm the Chornobyl nuclear power plant - this is the former deputy commander of the Siberian District of the Russian Guard troops, Major General Oleg Yakushev.
The suspicion was also reported to the deputy commander of the combined special forces detachment of the Russian Guard in the Bryansk region, Colonel Andrey Frolenkov, who led the actions of his subordinates during the attack on the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.
An investigation is ongoing to identify and bring to justice all those involved in nuclear terrorism.
