Ukrainian President Says Russia Tries to Take Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

After having entered the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone through the border with Belarus, Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, denounced today (24.02.2022) that the Russian incursion into the former nuclear plant is “a declaration of war against all of Europe”.
“The Russian occupation forces are trying to take over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Our defenders are giving their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 is not repeated,” Zelensky wrote on his Twitter account.
Zelensky added: “This is a declaration of war against all of Europe.”
Russian forces have invaded Ukrainian territory near the Chernobyl plant’s nuclear waste dump, Ukrainian authorities previously said.
According to a Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser, Anton Guerashtshenko, “the National Guard, which is concerned with ensuring the safety of radioactive dumping deposits, is fighting with all its strength,” he wrote in a statement.
The official warned that if such deposits are damaged, “nuclear dust can spread throughout the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and the countries of the European Union.”
They presaged invasion
Ukraine and NATO had denounced that the “Allied Determination-2022” maneuvers between Russia and Belarus held on the territory of the latter country were, in fact, preparations for an invasion.
For his part, the Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Valeri Zaluzhni, denounced that four ballistic missiles had been launched from Belarusian territory.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which is separated from Belarusian territory by the Pripyat River, which gives its name to the city in which the workers of the Soviet plant lived, has been patrolled for weeks by the Ukrainian national guard.
The territory of Ukraine and Belarus were the most affected by the radioactive cloud caused by the largest nuclear catastrophe in history on April 26, 1986.

Original source in Spanish