Iryna Vereshchuk: The occupiers of the Chernobyl NPP threaten the whole of Europe - we urge the United Nations to respond immediately

Deputy Prime Minister - Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk made an address, trying to attract the attention of the leaders of the countries on which the fate of the entire civilized world depends today, so that they decide to make the only right decision.

She stressed that the occupiers continue to militarize the Chernobyl exclusion zone. This poses a very serious risk of damaging the insulation structures built over the station's fourth unit after its 1986 explosion. Such damage will inevitably lead to the entry into the atmosphere of a significant amount of radioactive dust and contaminate not only Ukraine but also other European countries.

"The occupiers are ignoring these threats, continuing to transport and store a

significant amount of ammunition in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear power plant. Through the city of Pripyat, a few hundred meters from the isolation facilities of nuclear power plants, the russian occupiers transport tens of tons of rockets, shells and mortar ammunition every day. Hundreds of tons of ammunition are further stored in the neighboring city of Pripyat, which is also a short distance from the nuclear power plant, "the Minister stressed.

As Iryna Vereschuk stressed, recently the russian occupation forces are increasingly using old and substandard ammunition, which increases the risk of their detonation, even when loading and transporting. The facts of such self-detonation of ammunition in russian military depots and arsenals are well known and occur regularly.

In addition, significant fires have started in the exclusion zone, which can have very serious consequences. However, today it is impossible to control and extinguish fires in full due to the capture of the exclusion zone by the russian occupation forces.

As a result of a fire, radionuclides are released into the atmosphere, which the wind can carry over long distances, which threatens radiation not only in Ukraine but also in other European countries. Loss of control over the exclusion zone and the inability to fully extinguish the fire could threaten radiation facilities in the area.

"This week there was a full rotation of Chernobyl personnel, who spent more than 600 hours at their jobs, bravely performing their duties under pressure from the occupiers. In exchange for these workers, 59 specialists, including six women, agreed to go to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to perform duties to maintain the safe operation of Chernobyl facilities. We consider all of them hostages of the occupiers.

In the context of nuclear security, the irresponsible and unprofessional actions of the russian military pose a very serious threat not only to Ukraine but also to hundreds of millions of Europeans.

Therefore, we call on the United Nations Security Council to take immediate measures to demilitarize the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and establish a special UN mission to eliminate the risk of a Chernobyl accident as a result of the Russian occupation forces! " Iryna Vereshchuk said.