Chernobyl catastrophe: Putin 'stockpiles Ukrainian bodies for nuclear terror plot'

11 March 2022, 18:33 | Updated: 11 March 2022, 20:23

Russian president Vladimir Putin is stockpiling corpses of dead Ukrainian soldiers to plant as evidence in a "man-made catastrophe" at Chernobyl, Ukraine has warned.

The country's military intelligence unit said there was evidence that Russian forces were planning to blame Ukraine for a nuclear leak at the power plant.

It also said Russian military was collecting the bodies of deceased Ukrainian servicemen to plant at the radioactive site.

Chernobyl - the dormant nuclear power plant - has been under the control of Russian forces since its capture early in the invasion of Ukraine.

It is believed that 400 Russian troops are currently said to be stationed at the power plant.

Ukrainian authorities claim Russia have denied workers access to maintain its emergency generators that prevents a further meltdown from taking place.

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Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenerho says there is just two days worth of fuel left to power them before a potential major nuclear leak.

But, the International Atomic Energy Agency said a loss of power at Chernobyl "does not have any critical impact" on wider safety. They state there is "sufficient" cooling water for any excess nuclear fuel.

Ukraine's state-run nuclear company Energoatom said the radioactive cloud could be carried to other areas of the continent and put other locations at risk.

"The radioactive cloud could be carried by wind to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and Europe," it said in a statement.

In a post to their social media accounts, Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate said Russia hopes pinning a leak on Ukraine would undercut western support for the country.

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The post reads: "According to available information Vladimir Putin has ordered the preparation of a terrorist attack at the Chernobyl nuclear station.

"Without getting the desired result from the ground military operation and direct negotiations, Putin is ready to commit nuclear blackmail of the world community.

"Putin's actions will have catastrophic consequences for the whole world. It looks like this is exactly what the Russian dictator is counting on."

Chernobyl was site to the worst nuclear disaster in human history in 1986 when an explosion caused a major nuclear leak. It has left huge swathes of land around the site uninhabitable due to its radioactivity.

It also caused the nearby town of Pripyat to be labelled an 'exclusion zone'.

This comes after Russian forces conducted an airstrike on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, as well as Kharkiv Physical and Technical Institute.

Many European leaders have condemned the shelling of nuclear plants as a war crime due to the major risk of radioactive spillover across the continent.

But, Russian officials have denied the claims, even saying that the Ukrainian military are conducting the attacks themselves to garner more western support.

There are further fears over the potential willingness of Russia to use chemical weapons as part of the invasion.

Prime Minster Boris Johnson previously spoke on the "fake story" being spread by Russian intelligence that Ukrainians were preparing their own chemical weapons.

Meanwhile, the US has also accused Russia of "disinformation" after it claimed Ukraine had 30 labs looking at how to spread diseases, including plague, anthrax and cholera.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: "I will say this once... Ukraine does not have a biological weapons programme. It is Russia who is the aggressor here.

"We're not going to let Russia get away with lying to the world or staining the integrity of the Security Council by using it as a venue for legitimising Putin's violence."

"We do not sit in this chamber to be an audience for Russia's domestic propaganda," Ms Thomas-Greenfield added.

"And we should not allow Russia to abuse its permanent seat to spread disinformation and lies and pervert the purpose of the Security Council."