Incredibly rare footage shows true haunting reality of ‘most radioactive place on Earth’ that can kill in seconds

The radioactive lair of the 'Elephant's Foot' is one of the deadliest places imaginable.

It was captured on film by the late Artur Korneyev and his team in 1996, who were on a mission beneath the infamous Reactor 4 of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant at the time to distinguish radiation levels a decade after the nuclear disaster.

Decked in a hazmat suit, some incredibly rare footage shows the brave Kazakhstani descending into the flooded bowels of the plant that's littered with spiderwebs, rust, dust, and eerie metallic objects reminiscent of H.R. Giger's work.

The aforementioned mass of corium - resembling the gentle giant of the animal kingdom's wrinkly foot - also makes a special appearance in the grainy video.

Molten concrete, sand, steel, uranium, and zirconium were mixed together to create this monstrosity, and the scientists that were sent to check it out were forced to use a Kalashnikov assault rifle to chip off pieces for analysis due to its density.

According to Maxim Saveliev of the the Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants, though, the so-called foot now 'more or less has the consistency of sand'.

Prior to his alleged death in 2022 at the age of 73, Korneyev made light of his ailing health following protracted exposure to Chernobyl's gamma radiation.

“Soviet radiation is the best radiation in the world," he joked while speaking to The New York Times.

The highly radioactive Elephant's Foot of Reactor 4 (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

During the Chernobyl nightmare, which will continue to affect the Ukrainian landscape for centuries, the Elephant's Foot materialised after the conjoined materials oozed their way through pipes and came to rest in one of the deepest areas of the basement upon cooling.

Only four other cases of 'corium' have ever been created at nuclear meltdown stage throughout history.

While it's been nearly 40 years since the Chenrobyl reactor caused massive damage, it's still very much not recommended to visit.

In addition to invading Ukraine, massacring civilians and perpetuating a war that has cost thousands of lives, Russian troops also attacked the remaining facilities at Chernobyl before they were driven off by Ukrainian troops.

The staff working at the power plant had to steal fuel from the invaders to keep generators running, having warned that it 'could have been catastrophic' otherwise.

Chernobyl is still dangerous ground to this day, and some Russian troops who dug in around the area may have been exposed to 'significant doses' of radiation.