Ukraine sees radiation spike in Chernobyl after Russia attack

It warns the seizure of the nuclear plant by invading Russian troops could have ‘terrible consequences’

Ukrainian authorities said on Friday that radiation levels had increased in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and warned the seizure of the nuclear plant by invading Russian troops could have "terrible consequences."

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered his troops to invade Ukraine and on the same day they seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in one of the most radioactive places on earth.

Ukrainian authorities also said that they had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that they had lost control of highly radioactive fuel rods from the power plant.

"In the terrible hands of the aggressor, this significant amount of plutonium-239 can become a nuclear bomb that will turn thousands of hectares into a dead, lifeless desert," said Ukraine's Environmental Protection Ministry.

The Ministry said the Russian troops' takeover of the Chernobyl exclusion zone could have grave consequences.

"The humanitarian and environmental consequences of such a catastrophe have no borders," the Ministry added, stressing that "they will have terrible consequences for people."

Separately, the Ukrainian parliament said that data from the automated radiation monitoring system in the Chernobyl exclusion zone indicated higher than usual levels of radiation.