Ukraine sends soldiers to defend Chernobyl amid tension at border

Ukraine has dispatched troops to the Chernobyl exclusion zone to deter any Russian assault, with the highly radioactive site seen as a possible entrance point for Kremlin aggressors.

The Chernobyl exclusion zone in northern Ukraine is regarded as being in danger of being overrun, despite the fact that it is still radioactive and mostly consists of ghost towns and vacant farmland, according to The New York Times. 

Because the shortest route between Russia and Kiev would take Putin's soldiers via the isolated zone, this is the case.

Ukrainian forces are presently patrolling the wintry forests and abandoned neighbourhoods of Chernobyl, equipped with Kalashnikov rifles and radiation detection equipment, in preparation for a possible Russian entry into the exclusion zone, which was formed after a nuclear meltdown in 1986.

The Ukrainian border guard service's Lt. Col. Yuri Shakhraichuk told The New York Times: 'It doesn't matter if it's contaminated or if nobody lives here.' 

'It is our territory, our country, and we must defend it.' 

Ukrainian personnel patrolling the exclusion zone must wear radiation-detecting devices on a lanyard around their necks, with protocols stipulating that if they walk into a highly contaminated region, they must be removed off duty immediately.

Colonel Shakhraichuk told The New York Times that no troops have been exposed to high levels of radiation so far. 

(With inputs from agencies)