Russia was able to gain access to databases and equipment after taking control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, according to The Insider, an independent Russian news website based in Latvia.
The website attributed the information to interviews with Ukrainian nuclear scientists.
The scientists reported theft from the Ecocenter, which is engaged in radiation and environmental monitoring in the exclusion zone.
Equipment worth more than 6 million euros is reportedly located at the facility. According to The Insider it could be of great interest to the Russian military.
The key facility at the Ecocenter, the central analytical laboratory, was the location from which hard drives were taken, the website said.
Olga Kosharnaya, an expert on nuclear energy and director of information and public relations for the Ukrainian Nuclear Forum, said she believes that the hard drvies housed the unique database on radiology and dosimetry, and is of particular interest to Russia, according to The Insider.
Meanwhile, radioactive isotopes, which are used to calibrate instruments, have also disappeared from the laboratory of the Institute for the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants — also located in Chernobyl.
In addition, The Insider noted that samples of radioactive waste are also missing, including those left after the meltdown of reactor No. 4 contents of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986.
Anatolii Nosovskyi, director of the Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants in Kyiv, told Science magazine that looters apparently made off with the isotopes and pieces of radioactive waste that could be mixed with conventional explosives to form a "dirty bomb."
The Insider said Russia withdrew troops from the territory around the nuclear power plant on March 31.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.