The official warned that “it remains to be seen” how successful Russia will be in achieving this goal, how much training these forces will receive or where they will be sent. The official also said that the US has not seen that there is “fresh reinforcements, fully trained, fully armed” ready to reinforce the exhausted tactical groups of the Russian battalions. In terms of their current capabilities, Russia is now “below 85% of its estimated available combat force” that Moscow had amassed before invading Ukraine in February, a senior US defense official said on Friday. information with journalists. “From the estimated available combat power they had at their disposal before the invasion they had gathered against Ukraine for this purpose, from the total estimated combat power they had, we estimate that it is between 80 and 85% of what they had. “, Said the official who takes into account various factors from the number of tanks, fighter jets, stockpile of missiles, as well as troops. The official would not give a specific number for the total number of Russian troops killed to date in the operation in Ukraine. “All of us say they are below 85% of their estimated available combat power when they launched this invasion,” the official said. The United States has also said that the Russian military has not resolved “logistical and maintenance problems”, including those outside Ukraine, according to a senior US defense official. The official said the problems meant they were unlikely to be able to bolster their forces in eastern Ukraine “at high speed”. “We do not think this will be a quick process for them in general, given the kind of losses they have suffered and the kind of damage they have suffered in the readiness of their units,” the official said.
title: “Ukrainians Shocked By Crazy Scene At Chernobyl After Russian Pullout Reveals Radioactive Contamination " ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-27” author: “Craig Phair”
“They went to the Red Forest and brought radioactive material with them in their shoes,” explains soldier Ihor Ugolkov. “Other places are fine, but the radiation increased here, because they lived here.” CNN gained exclusive access to the plant for the first time since regaining control of Ukraine. Factory officials explain that the levels inside the room used by Russian soldiers are only slightly higher than what the World Nuclear Union describes as natural radiation. One-time contact would not be dangerous, but constant exposure would be a health hazard. “They went everywhere and got some radioactive dust on them [when they left]”, Adds Ugolkov. An example of what Ukrainian officials say was the lax and careless behavior of Russian soldiers while in control of the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. The area around Chernobyl, the Red Forest, is still the most nuclear-contaminated. area on the planet, with most of the radioactive particles present in the soil. Ukrainian officials have released drone footage of what they say are trenches dug by Russian troops in the area, which is highly radioactive. In a safe location on the outskirts of this area, CNN saw a Russian military diet displaying radiation levels 50 times above normal. Russian troops have been holding Chernobyl for a month and are believed to have operated in contaminated areas most of the time. “It’s crazy, really,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko told CNN at the plant. “I really have no idea why they did it (go to the Red Forest). “But we can see that they went in there, the soldiers who went there, came back here and the level of radiation increased.” Although Chernobyl is not an active power station, the sarcophagus above the reactor that exploded almost 36 years ago must be maintained to prevent further radioactive leaks. There is also a significant amount of spent nuclear fuel to watch out for. “This restriction is supposed to have electricity, it’s supposed to have the ventilation system and so on,” Galushchenko explains. “When the country can not control this and we are responsible, Ukraine is responsible for security, of course, that is a threat.” Part of that threat also came from the way Russian troops managed those in charge of maintaining nuclear facilities. [Our staff] “They have been here since the first day of the occupation and could only be replaced a month later.” “When people are physically and morally exhausted, when you are threatened with weapons and you have this daily pressure from the soldiers, it is really a very difficult job.” Volodymyr Falshovnyk, 64, is a Chernobyl shift manager. He returned to the power plant on March 20, when the Russian army allowed the tired staff to take turns with his colleagues from the nearby town of Slavutych, where many of the factory workers live. He says staff were working under tremendous pressure, not only because of what was happening at Chernobyl, but also because of the news they were receiving from the outside world. “Our relatives started calling and saying that the city was storming, that there were injured and dead,” he said. “We asked the Russians what was going on and they said there were no regular Russian troops there, but we kept hearing that there were bombings.” Falshovnyk also accused Russian soldiers of looting the power plant. “They gave us staff from Rosatom (Russian Nuclear Service) to accompany us and with them we toured the uncovered warehouses. They robbed these warehouses all the time,” he added. The operation under these conditions was intense, but nothing compared to what the security personnel endured. The 169 Ukrainian National Guard soldiers guarding the facility were locked in the unit’s underground Cold War shelter, crammed into narrow alleys with no access to natural light, fresh air or communication with the outside world, according to the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior. . “They stayed here for 30 days without adequate lighting and food. They were not allowed to go outside. On the last day they were taken from here in an unknown direction,” said Denys Monastyrskyy as he stood inside the shelter. The minister says he believes the men were taken to Russia, via Belarus, as prisoners of war, but does not know for sure. “Unfortunately we do not know anything about their fate today,” he said. CNN aired inside the shelter and other areas usually occupied by factory staff by Ukrainian officials who claimed that Russian soldiers had looted the area. Clothes, sanitary ware and other personal items were scattered all over the floor. “The Russian army went through all the Ukrainian clothes, personal items, such as dogs, probably looking for money, valuables, laptops,” Monastyrskyy continued. “There was looting here. The Russian army stole computers and equipment.” Moscow has said very little about what its troops did at Chernobyl. The last time the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the nuclear site was on February 26, confirming its occupation and claiming that it had made arrangements to ensure the safety of power units, the sarcophagus and a spent fuel storage facility.
Chernobyl is not an isolated case
Ukrainian officials say the behavior of the Russian military and the treatment of Ukrainian personnel at the Chernobyl power plant underscores the danger posed by the Moscow invasion as it gains control of factories in other areas. In addition to the decommissioned reactors at Chernobyl, Ukraine has four active nuclear power plants, including the largest in Europe in Zaporizhia. The Russian military captured the facility in early March, when it took control of the area, bombing some of the site’s buildings during the process. “The situation there is also appalling, especially given the way they captured Zaporizhia because they fired at the station with heavy weapons,” said Energy Minister Galustchenko. “It really is an act of nuclear terrorism,” he added. “I’m not even saying that they are bombing stations as well as a situation in the Zaporizhzhia NPP, but when we do not have the ability to be responsible for nuclear safety, there is a threat.” And despite the fact that Ukraine has regained control of Chernobyl, Ukrainian officials fear that Russian troops could try to return. “We understand that today we must be ready for a new attack on a nuclear plant at any time. We will use the best global experience to ensure that the plant is protected as the border is only a few tens of kilometers away,” said Interior Minister Monastyrskyy. “It simply came to our notice then [in Chernobyl] is a living example of rage in a nuclear facility. “It’s the responsibility not only of Ukraine, but of the whole world, to keep the stations safe.” “Everyone was watching live as tanks fired at nuclear units [in Zaporizhzhia]. “This story must never be repeated.” Monastyrskyy says his country needs continued international support to do this. “We are ready to invest in the future of Ukraine and in the future security of the world,” he said, reiterating his government’s call for additional weapons to be sent to Ukraine. “Today the line between totalitarianism and democracy goes behind our backs, the line between freedom and oppression,” he said. “We are ready to fight for it.”
