Rachel Lang
Russian soldiers who looted laboratories in Chernobyl could die in a matter of months, after unwittingly taking highly radioactive items with them as trophies.
Ukraine's State Agency for Managing the Exclusion Zone announced on Telegram that enemy troops had pillaged two labs within the area, taking 133 highly radioactive substances with them.
They also said the Russian soldiers deserve a Darwin Award; a tongue-in-cheek honour that recognises individuals for incredibly stupid behaviour that takes them out of the gene pool.
"Carrying such a souvenir with you for two weeks will inevitably lead to radiation burns, radiation sickness and irreversible processes in the body," the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management said in their statement.
The announcement comes shortly after Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko said Russian soldiers exposed themselves to a 'shocking' amount of nuclear radiation.
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Galushchenko added that due to their foolish actions, some of them may have less than a year to live.
"They dug bare soil contaminated with radiation, collected radioactive sand in bags for fortification, breathed this dust," Mr Galushchenko said on Facebook after visiting the exclusion zone.
"After a month of such exposure, they have a maximum of one year of life. More precisely, not life but a slow death from diseases.
"Every Russian soldier will bring a piece of Chernobyl home. Dead or alive."
Russian forces have abandoned the Chernobyl site after seizing it on the first day of their invasion of Ukraine on February 24. They occupied the highly radioactive zone for over a month, before retreating on March 31 after bus loads of soldiers were taken to specialist hospitals in Belarus to treat radiation poisoning.
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One exclusion zone worker told Reuters a convoy of Russian soldiers kicked up clouds of radioactive dust while driving through the ‘Red Forest’ after the invaders seized control of the area.
The troops were said to be ignoring the site's strict rules designed to protect human life and are now gravely ill.
Vast areas around Chernobyl remains off limits to anyone who doesn't have special permission to enter or works within the exclusion zone, but the Red Forest is off limits to all due to its dangerously high levels of radioactive contamination.
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