Six hectares of trenches, stolen equipment, fires, and prisoners: how Chornobyl is recovering from Russian occupation

Russian troops occupied the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone from February 24 to April 1, 2022. During this time, they caused damage worth one hundred million euros: stole equipment, looted machinery, destroyed cars, smashed buildings and offices, damaged protected areas, deprived workers of the opportunity to fully perform their duties, and raised radioactive dust, according to Maksym Shevchuk, the deputy head of the State Agency of Ukraine on the Exclusion Zone Management (SAEZM).

From this object, shelling was conducted in the direction of Kyiv. The aggressor understood the Ukrainian side would not respond to avoid a nuclear catastrophe. Russian airplanes and rotorcraft were flying, their tanks were driving nearby, and ammunition was being stored. This is how the Russian military exposed all of Ukraine to a nuclear catastrophe by using Chornobyl – with spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, as well as flying over the new safe confinement that covered the fourth power unit, which contains a lot of fuel-containing masses, explains Shevchuk.

As a result of the occupation, 169 members of the Ukrainian National Guard were captured. As of the end of June 2023, over a hundred of them are still in captivity, reportedly in very difficult conditions. However, there are positive dynamics: there have already been several exchanges involving national guardsmen from the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, says the deputy head of the SAEZM.

"It was the hardest for the workers who were at the facility with the occupiers for all these 35 days, taking into account one partial rotation. It is tough to perform the duties of maintaining the security of facilities in such conditions. The fact that they could perform their functions, despite such unprecedented pressure, work under arms, under constant searches and interrogations — these are truly heroic deeds," says Shevchuk.

About 150 employees of the enterprises of the exclusion zone, up to a hundred self-settled people who could not leave, and 169 members of the National Guard ended up living in the temporarily occupied zone. 

The deputy head of SAEZM recalls these 35 days as a time of fearing a major disaster and anxiety for colleagues who found themselves living under occupation.

"It's not like the workers had a choice whether to stay. On the spot, they built a forced coexistence with the occupiers so that the enemies' most absurd and sinister plans were not realized," says Oleksii Radynsky, director of the film "Chornobyl 22" . The film, shot by an eyewitness on a mobile phone, documented the memories of several employees of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant  as it was overtaken by Russian troops.

According to Radynsky, the station's personnel managed to respond to the strategy of nuclear blackmail implemented by the Russians with a counter-strategy of their own. After all, those Russian soldiers learned about the seriousness of radiation danger from the station's employees.

"The occupiers gradually began to fear very much for their health. The staff resorted to a successful manipulation to reduce the risks of possible reckless actions of the occupiers," says the director. "It should also be appreciated that the station operated in absolutely extreme conditions. Perhaps we take it for granted, but it is not so."

In addition, throughout the occupation, the workers of the exclusion zone, who were in contact with their colleagues outside, tried to transmit as much information as possible about the Russians' movements and equipment . Shevchuk says that they, for their part, passed this data on to Ukrainian intelligence officers.

For this, the employees of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) received state awards, including from the hands of the president of Ukraine.

"Our staff in Chornobyl, together with the self-employed people, lived as one big family — they ate together and distributed the small resources that remained on the territory. All the houses of the self-settled people were also visited daily with searches and interrogations," recalls Shevchuk, the deputy head of SAEZM. He also says that people could shift their focus from harsh interrogations to stories about radiation safety rules, and the Russian military at least listened for an hour or two and did not lay a hand on people then.

According to Shevchuk, more than 300 pieces of automotive equipment were lost — some were stolen, some were simply shot, and some had batteries, generators, and other components unscrewed. Firefighting vehicles, tractors, equipment for transporting radioactive waste, and buses were the most affected.

In the laboratories, some equipment was damaged, and some was stolen. Practically all computers in Chornobyl were stolen either whole or in parts.

Another consequence of the occupation is that the territory of the exclusion zone is significantly mined, especially its western part.

"Now, there is no access to 25-30% of the territory because mines are scattered there. Unfortunately, there were instances of blowing up people, cars, and animals," says Shevchuk.

All bridges leading to Slavutych through Belarus were destroyed — both a road and a railway.

Shevchuk explains that during the occupation, employees' regular commute to work was disrupted, replaced by  a seven hour bus ride full of checkpoints manned by Russian troops, forcing them to work in shifts of 15 days without returning home. 

Because the occupiers dug trenches, particularly in the radiation-contaminated Red Forest – significantly moving the soil and raised dust, there was a local increase in the radiation level – but in terms of security, this situation is now under control, says Shevchuk.

Calculations of ecological losses due to the occupation of the exclusion zone are still ongoing.

According to Denys Vishnevskyi, head of the scientific department of the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve, during the entire time of the occupation, as part of an international project, they had camera traps, and now the foreign specialists are analyzing data on the behavior of animals during this period.

During the occupation, a large fire broke out in the exclusion zone. Photo provided by SAEZMA colossal amount of Russian military equipment passed through the exclusion zone — attack aircraft and cruise missiles flew here at extremely low altitudes, affecting the area's wildlife. A military conflict of this level hasn't occurred since the Second World War, explains Vishnevskyi.

During the occupation, there was a large fire in the territory west of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. After the end of the occupation, there was another one, but the presence of mines on the territory made it impossible to extinguish it completely.

"It was impossible to enter the forest to extinguish the center of this fire," says Vishnevskyi.

He suggests that with the climate is becoming hotter and drier, the risk of forest fires is increasing, and with landmines covering a large part of the country would also hamper efforts to fight forest fires and wildfires.

Using satellite observations, scientists calculated that the invaders dug six hectares of trenches. Now they are watching how they are becoming overgrown with vegetation.

"I went to the de-occupied territory for the first time on April 15 of 2022. Everywhere along the way, I saw remnants of Russian checkpoints, and there were gabions — cubic structures filled with loose materials, mainly sand. I had a question: What did they fill them with? We found here, in the zone, that they made a quarry on the river terrace, from where they took the material," says Vishnevskyi. They also used local trees to build their defensive structures.

In the office of the reserve, says Vishnevskyi the occupiers also broke the windows and doors and stole everything that could be sold. Although he was very worried about what would happen to the scientific library, it thankfully remained untouched.

"There are many materials on the subject of Chornobyl, available only in paper form. I collected them for 20 years," Vishnevskyi told Rubryka. "When I came, the library was on site. They stole the book 'Naturalist's Notes' from our ornithologist, and from me, the autobiography of Keith Richards', bass guitarist of the Rolling Stones."

He recalls that the police used to find stacks of laptops from abandoned houses for two months until mid-summer.

"Soldiers stole, but apparently, they were afraid to bring it to the location because the commander could either punish them or take it away, most likely. That's why they, like chipmunks or jays, pushed all these laptops and some equipment around such houses. When they gave the command to go home, they had to take it to an armored personnel carrier or in a convoy. They didn't have time. That's how I found the equipment we used to study bats," the scientist recalls.

Considering the very significant consequences of the occupation, the SAEZM created a recovery plan of 10 parts — firefighting, radiation control, restoration of radioactive waste management equipment, there are some projects at Chornobyl NPP, as well as a scientific hub, creation of additional laboratories, demining, says Shevchuk, the deupty chairman of SAEZM.

The state agency has been communicating this plan to international partners and donors for over a year. "We have significant success: more than a billion hryvnias worth of aid has already been approved, and a certain part of this aid has already been received. The part came very quickly — in April and June of 2022," says the deputy head of SAEZM. "We were able to restore control over the radiation status, control of the checkpoint, so that radioactive particles were not taken out of the zone."

The European Commission, the Department of Energy of the United States of America, and representatives of Canada, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, and other countries were actively engaged in the process. All help to varying degrees with resources so that security functions can be fully implemented in the exclusion zone. 

Shevchuk adds: "The role of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, in which we have an account for international cooperation regarding Chornobyl, is also significant. This account is gradually being filled, and already the first project from it is being implemented — purchasing equipment for fighting fires."

In general, the mission of this plan is to show that the world can fight any global challenges by uniting as it was with the Chornobyl disaster.

"That's why this plan is not only a recovery plan but also a development plan. By implementing it, we want to make the zone safer, stronger, and more developed," says Shevchuk.

In terms of money, this requires €200 million; in terms of time, the next few years.

On July 15, another assembly of donors of the international cooperation account for Chornobyl under the management of the EBRD took place. There, SAEZM presented the projects for which donors will be primarily asked to allocate funds: these are mainly safety projects at the Chornobyl NPP site, as well as the provision of equipment for fighting fires.

"Since May, there have been small fires caused by various factors. So far, we manage, but, of course, there are not many tools," says Shevchuk. "Well, let's not forget that part of the territory — both the left bank of the Pripyat River and the western part of the zone — is completely inaccessible to us now. If there is a fire there, it will not be possible to put it out." Therefore, according to the deputy head of SAEZM, forest roads should be demined first of all so that fires can be dealth with effectively.

To restore activities, the employees of the enterprises of the exclusion zone did a lot on their own, including repairing the premises that the Russians had destroyed.

The area in which workers of the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve can conduct observations has decreased.

They still perform their tasks, says Vishnevskyi. In October 2022 they presented their part of the research in an international project that lasted four years. The reserve was responsible for the radiobiological component and, despite all the problems it encountered, completed a complex of field studies after de-occupation.

"Now we continue to work. I had a meeting with the Frankfurt Society on an ecological project to restore wetlands. We are also continuing a project on the impact of climate change: We will set traps, collect genetic material, and see what parasites mosquitoes bring us. Because war is war, but this problem remains, our environment is changing," says Vishnevskyi.

Since the danger of invasion remains, and Ukraine's military continues to operate in the exclusion zone, access is now limited to critical work issues, Shevchuk notes.

The 20-minute film "Chornobyl 22" combines mobile phone footage with interviews with witnesses of the Russian occupation of the exclusion zone. Its director, Oleksii Radynsky, is one of the participants in the "Ukraine Testifies" project, which aims to collect testimonies about war crimes committed by the Russian Federation.

These testimonials are used by documentarians and bylawyers who file lawsuits against the Russian Federation in international courts.

When Radynsky joined this project, he suggested that the team investigate war crimes committed by the Russian army in the Chornobyl zone as potentially violating international conventions aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism – after they seized the nuclear power plant by force, and would like to see international legal cases brought against Russia for its actions, he told Rubryka.

Rubryka spoke with the director during the 20th Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, where this short film received a special award in the DOCU/Short category. Earlier this year, the film won the Grand Prix of the City of Oberhausen in the international competition at the International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen.

"It used to seem to me that the Chornobyl zone is Ukraine in miniature, and now I am convinced of this because here, in a concentrated form, many things that can be used to characterize the Ukrainian resistance to the invasion in general, and the Russian army's deep misunderstanding of what Ukraine is, have manifested themselves," the director shared.

Currently, Ukrainians  watching the war are alarmed by the threat at another target of Russian nuclear terrorism — the Zaporizhia NPP.

It is Europe's largest nuclear power plant with a local storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. According to Shevchuk the scenarios can be different, and the consequences of these scenarios can also be different, depending on what the occupier dares to do.

The expert urges monitoring the information from the State Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the State Emergency Service.

"The information now in the public domain is relevant and quite clear: what to do if something happens and what the scenario might be. That is, there is no need to panic. The probability of the scenario that the accident will cover all of Ukraine and Europe is extremely low" assures Shevchuk. "Of course, we understand there could be a serious environmental disaster, a radiation accident. We are ready for any scenario."