Russian troops seize Chernobyl’s remnants after a battle, risking Western efforts to contain one of the world’s most radioactive sites

• Russian troops are fighting in the special protective zone that encircles the remnants of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
• Nations have worked for decades to contain the 1986 disaster, which was so severe that some areas may not support human life for another century.
• A particular concern is a billion-dollar containment dome erected in 2016 to contain the nuclear reactor that exploded and spewed fallout for miles.

Russian troops have reportedly seized the remnants of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a move that signals the likelihood of trying to assault Kyiv and that risks decades of united efforts to contain one of history’s worst nuclear disasters.

An adviser to the plant, which remains the site of a decades-long containment effort, said there was “fierce” fighting in the area.

“After a fierce battle, Ukrainian control over the Chernobyl site was lost. The condition of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, confinement, and nuclear waste storage facilities is unknown,” said Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of Chernobyl plant, BuzzFeed News’s Christopher Miller reports.

The Associated Press reports that an unnamed Ukrainian official said Russia shelling hit a radioactive waste repository. Reports of the fighting and possible damage could not be independently confirmed.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that fighting was already underway.

“Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the #Chornobyl_NPP,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Twitter early Thursday. “Our defenders are giving their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated.”

A roughly 20-mile exclusion zone encircles the 1986 nuclear disaster. Parts of the zone are not expected to support human life for another hundred years. But weather conditions at the time of the incident mean some areas contain far more radiation than others.

UC San Francisco’s Lydia Zablotska, a radiation expert who grew up in Ukraine, told Insider before Thursday’s reported attacks that the zone remains “the most contaminated place” on earth.

“No one should go into those areas,” Zablotska said. “It’s dangerous for a reason. A number of studies both in humans and animals and from different branches of science say it’s dangerous, unadvisable and no one should go into that area.”

Largely a no-man's land, the Ukrainian military has ramped up deployments to the zone in recent months in anticipation that Russian forces could assault through it from Belarus, a close Russian ally where its troops have been training. The area is still of strategic importance and thus a broader war could unfold in the shadow of a nuclear disaster. The New York Times reported that the deployments have allowed the Ukrainians to map the highly radiated areas of the zone. Radiation exposure is monitored via a dosimeter attached to a soldier's uniform.

Containing the nuclear disaster has been a decades-long and costly endeavor. In 2016, a billion-dollar containment dome was erected over the number 4 nuclear reactor, the site of the plant's explosion. The world's largest moveable metal structure was built to last a century, capable of weathering erosion or tornadoes. It's not clear though how much combat damage it could sustain. 

A small team also maintains the dome. It's not clear if they are still on the ground given the reported fighting that is unfolding in the zone. It takes special permission to enter the zone, though some thrill-seeking tourists occasionally wander into the area.

Chernobyl itself is one of the most lasting symbols of Soviet-era mismanagement. The Kremlin stood silent about what happened for days until the Swedish government forced their hands. In the meantime, life largely went on as normal, a reality that undergirded the public pushback against Moscow and remains a historic low-point in Ukrainian-Russian relations.

Two workers were killed in the initial explosion and 28 first-responders died in the months after. Pripyat, then a town of just under 50,000 people, was evacuated within 36 hours. Approximately 200,000 people were later relocated.