Russian military forces are transporting and storing large quantities of artillery shells near the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, posing a significant threat to global ecological safety. The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ General Staff has raised concerns about the potential damage to the isolation structures over Chernobyl’s fourth reactor.

According to reports, units from the Eastern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces are moving tens of tons of rocket and artillery shells, as well as mortar ammunition, daily from a logistics base in the Narovlya district of Gomel region, Belarus. The transport route passes through the city of Pripyat, just hundreds of meters from the nuclear plant’s isolation structures. The ammunition is then stored in the nearby city of Chernobyl, which is also close to the nuclear facility.

Irina Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, highlighted the use of outdated munitions by the occupiers, which could detonate during loading and transport. She emphasized the danger posed by the storage of hundreds of tons of ammunition in Chernobyl, near the nuclear plant.

Additionally, large-scale forest fires have erupted in the exclusion zone due to Russian actions, and extinguishing efforts are hindered by the military occupation. These fires release radionuclides into the atmosphere, which can be carried by wind over long distances, threatening Ukraine and other European nations with radiation exposure.

Vereshchuk warned that the loss of control over the exclusion zone and the inability to fully extinguish the fires could endanger radiation facilities in the area. She stressed that the irresponsible and unprofessional actions of the Russian military pose a severe threat not only to Ukraine but also to millions of Europeans. Consequently, Ukraine is urging the UN Security Council to take immediate steps to demilitarize the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Previously, it was reported that over 30 fires had occurred in the exclusion zone near the Chernobyl nuclear plant due to military activities. As of March 27, 10,000 hectares of forest are burning, raising radiation levels not only in Ukraine but also in Europe and Belarus.

Read more at Ukrainska Pravda. Also reported by ZAXID.NET.