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Russian forces have entered Chernobyl and are fighting Ukrainian troops over attempts to seize the nuclear power plant, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
The violent attacks may have destroyed a nuclear waste storage facility, according to an advisor to the Ukrainian interior ministry.
Fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the area in the north of the country may have led to the damage, according to NBC.
However, these reports are yet to be independently verified.
"Advisor to Ukrainian interior ministry says Russian forces entered Chernobyl and that fighting there destroyed a nuclear waste storage facility," NBC's Richard Engel tweeted this afternoon.
This was initially reported but was later clarified due to a mistranslation.
He added shortly after: "Clarifying: advisor says heaving fighting MAY disturb nuclear waste."
An adviser for the Interior Minister of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko said today, according to LBC: "The invaders from the territory of Belarus have moved into the Chernobyl AES Zone.
"The National Guardsmen, who guard the collectors of unsafe nuclear radioactive waste, are fighting hard.
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"If the invader's artillery hits and ruins/damages the collectors of nuclear waste, radioactive nuclear dust can be spread over the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and the country of the EU!"
The President of Ukraine took to Twitter to say Russian forces are trying to seize the zone.
"Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the #Chornobyl_NPP," tweeted Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Our defenders are giving their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated. Reported this to @SwedishPM.
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"This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe."
Large parts of Chernobyl were closed to the public for decades after a nuclear power reactor melted down there during the Soviet Union's reign in 1986.
The news comes after the Russian president today insisted that Russian interests and security are non-negotiable, hours after US President Joe Biden warned of the “beginning of a Russian invasion” of Ukraine.
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On Monday, Putin declared that Russia had recognised the independence of two rebel-held southeastern regions of Ukraine, Luhansk and Donetsk.
In doing so the Russian President tore up an eight-year peace treaty with Ukraine.
The West responded by announcing a range of sanctions against Russia with the US targeting Russia’s “elites” and its foreign debt in particular.
- Chernobyl
- Russia
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