Russia is withdrawing troops from Chernobyl after radiation poisoning

The Kremlin has reportedly decided to pull Russian forces out of the Chernobyl region, likely due to radiation threats.

According to the Ukrainian state agency, which manages the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Russian soldiers are being transported by bus to the Belarusian Radiation Medicine Center in Gomel. The soldiers are being taken from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone after becoming "irradiated," according to Yaroslav Yemelianenko, the CEO of Chornobyl Tour.

"There are rules for dealing with this area. They are mandatory because radiation is physics - it works without regard to status or shoulder straps. With minimal intelligence in command or soldiers, these consequences could have been avoided," Yemelianenko wrote on Facebook.

Staff working at the site of the Chernobyl disaster who were present for its Russian occupation at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine described the Russian troops as having been sent on a "suicide" mission, owing to the lack of radiation protection they had been given. The Russian soldiers were reportedly unaware of the Chernobyl disaster that had taken place or the risks they faced there.

"Chernobyl is (an) area where they are beginning to reposition some of their troops - leaving, walking away from the Chernobyl facility and moving into Belarus. We think that they are leaving, I can't tell you that they're all gone," a US official told the AFP news agency.

Read more: Russian troops entered forbidden 'Red Forest,' inhaled deadly material