According to the New York Times, Ukraine has sent its military to guard against any incursion into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone amid global concern over a possible Russian invasion. The site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster is a potential entry point for Russia, the report said.
The quarantine zone in northern Ukraine is on the shortest route from Russia to the capital Kiev. Meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in 1986.
The site has ghost towns and fallow land decades after the nuclear disaster. According to the New York Times, Ukrainian troops are carrying weapons and equipment to detect radiation in the area.
Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Shakhraichuk of the Ukrainian Border Guard told The New York Times: “It doesn’t matter if it’s contaminated or no one lives here.” He added, “This is our territory, our country, and we have to defend it. .”
Soldiers were required to wear a device around their necks to check radiation levels. Soldiers will be fired if they linger in areas of high radiation.
Colonel Shakhraichuk told The New York Times that no troops have been exposed to high doses so far.
Colonel Shahlechuk further stated that the troops deployed in Chernobyl would not be able to repel the invasion and that they had been sent there to detect warning signs.
Given Russia’s aggressive tactics, the move to send troops to Chernobyl sparked an emotional response from those who fought to control the nuclear power plant fire in 1986.
Among them was Ukrainian firefighter Ivan Kovalchuk. “How is this possible? We solved the accident together. They are doing this to us now and I feel sorry for the Ukrainian people,” he told The New York Times.
Some workers in Chernobyl still live in rotation to maintain safety equipment. One such worker told The New York Times, “We don’t know what will kill us in the first place, whether it’s a virus, radiation, or war.”
Meanwhile, Russia has insisted it has no intention of invading Ukraine and has accused the West of heightening tensions in the region. However, the Kremlin has reiterated its demands that NATO allies should withdraw their troops and weapons from locations near former Soviet republics, such as Ukraine.
Complete News Source : Hindustan Times
