New drone footage appears to back up claims that Russian forces excavated trenches inside the radioactive Chernobyl exclusion zone.
Footage confirmed by geolocation website liveuamap.com shows trenches excavated deep into the earth just a few kilometres away from Chernobyl’s now-covered old nuclear power station.

Russian generals have stated that Russian troops experiencing “radiation illness” in Chernobyl is “false news,” but it now looks that this may be the case.

The drone footage clearly shows the excavations in the region before panning out to reveal the neighbouring plot.

The tunnels are also thought to be in the exclusion zone, which is still severely radiated more than 30 years after the nuclear reactor detonated.

Earlier this week, we reported that a Russian soldier had died from radiation exposure while stationed near Chernobyl, which was captured by Russian military early in the Ukraine invasion.

The troops were camping in the Red Forest, which is located within the exclusion zone of Ukraine’s dangerous nuclear power plant.

Following the greatest nuclear accident in human history, a 1,000-square-mile exclusion zone was established around Chernobyl in 1986.

According to The Telegraph, he was a part of the squad of Russian forces that initially occupied the territory towards the start of Putin’s’special military operation’ in the country.

Earlier this week, the Ukrainian defence ministry announced that Russian soldiers had departed the area, with occupying forces now focusing their efforts in the country’s east.

It comes after it was revealed that soldiers were being flown home from the Ukraine conflict zone with “severe radiation illness” after digging trenches near the famed Chernobyl nuclear power facility.

Staff at Chernobyl described witnessing the Russians driving “a massive convoy of military vehicles” through the lethal woods, kicking up huge clouds of radioactive dirt and dust into the air.

The zone, named after the pine trees that became red after being exposed to highly radioactive waste, is deemed so dangerous that only specially trained Chernobyl employees are permitted to enter, with checks performed on anybody who does enter in case they become contaminated with nuclear fallout.