Ukraine officials survey Russian dug trenches in Chernobyl exclusion zone's radioactivity levels

'It’s already squeaking showing excess' says a Ukrainian official surveying the trenches dug by Russian forces in the Red Forest exclusion zone surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

The footage shows members of the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management walking through former tank positions and trenches.

At one point one of the men can be seen measuring the radioactivity of the area. “It’s already squeaking showing excess,” he’s quoted as saying.

The International Atomic Energy Agency was investigating reports that forces had been impacted by radiation poisoning, but said on March 31 it was unable to confirm and was seeking further information.

The footage was released by Ukrainian Witness on Thursday. Russian troops took control of the plant on February 24 and withdrew weeks later on March 31.

Vladimir Putin’s troops occupied site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, after they captured it in the early days of their Ukraine invasion.

Dozens of Russian soldiers are said to have been struck down with acute radiation sickness and were taken in seven busses back across the border in nearby Belarus.

The site of the 1986 nuclear tragedy in northern Ukraine was captured in the opening days of the war, sparking fears of a major radioactive disaster as a result of heavy fighting around the plant.

Russian troops dug trenches in the highly toxic Red Forest zone, just a few miles west of the plant, but have now retreated as part of a pull-out from around the capital Kyiv.