NEW video shows trenches excavated by Russian soldiers at Chernobyl, which allegedly resulted in radiation poisoning.

Vladimir Putin’s soldiers controlled the site of the world’s worst nuclear tragedy after seizing it in the early days of their invasion of Ukraine.

Dozens of Russian servicemen were allegedly knocked ill with acute radiation sickness and transported across the border on seven buses to adjacent Belarus.

The location of the 1986 nuclear catastrophe in northern Ukraine was taken early in the war, raising worries of a massive radioactive disaster due to intensive combat surrounding the facility.

Russian forces constructed trenches in the very hazardous Red Forest zone, just a few kilometres west of the facility, but have already withdrawn as part of a pull-out from Kyiv.

The drone footage reveals damaged earth mounds and fortifications constructed on the borders of the Red Forest, the most radioactively polluted area of the Chernobyl zone.

The massive steel dome meant to cover the wrecked reactor can be seen in the distance as the camera zooms out from the abandoned Russian positions.

Since the Russians left, the first Ukrainian soldiers have been photographed strolling through the Chernobyl site.

Images depict scenes of devastation, including abandoned tanks and bridges.

Putin’s forces have withdrew after losing hundreds of soldiers in fierce battle near Kiev.

Chernobyl is located 80 miles north of Kyiv on a crucial route into the city from Belarus, Putin’s puppet state where 30,000 soldiers are stationed.

Soon after the conflict began, Ukraine severed all connectivity with Chernobyl, raising concerns about a possibly disastrous loss of power at the reactor.

According to site employees, when Russian forces initially came, they drove their tanks.

and unprotected armoured vehicles across the highly hazardous region

This resulted in massive clouds of radioactive dust being emitted by the cars.

Because the radioactive dust they ingested was likely to induce internal radiation in their bodies, a Chernobyl employee labelled their conduct as “suicidal.”

According to US military reports, Russian personnel are retiring from the Chernobyl nuclear facility and heading back towards Belarus in a dramatic retreat.

“Chernobyl is [an] location where they [the Russians] are beginning to relocate some of their forces,” according to a Pentagon officer.