Russians who dug trenches in the Red Forest will face radiation sickness - Energoatom

Chief of Ukraine’s Energoatom Petro Kotin visited one of the areas in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, where the Russian occupiers had been digging trenches. The official says all Russian soldiers, who have already retreated from the area, are now facing radiation sickness.

That’s according to the Ukrainian Pravda citing the nuclear operator’s press service, Ukrinform reports.

The report says abnormally high levels of radiation background were recorded at the sites where the occupiers had been digging to strengthen their positions.

"The rate of external radiation (gamma background) in the researched areas stood at 3.2-4 μSv/h (microsieverts per hour), which is 10-15 times above the norm.

One of the indicators measuring the internal radiation received by the occupiers from the soil surface (Beta contamination) in the researched areas was 90 Sr, which is 160 times above the norm.

Another factor of internal radiation is Alpha contamination, which is formed due to the fragments of nuclear fuel and graphite from the reactor scattered in this part of the so-called “Red Forest.” These fragments are now 40-80 cm below the surface, but the occupiers dug deeper.

It is reported that when getting into a human body, this type of radiation is tens and hundreds of times more powerful than gamma and beta rays.

Therefore all the occupiers, who were based in the Red Forest and were digging trenches there for almost 30 days, will face radiation sickness of varying severity.