Experts fear Russia may be plotting a disaster worse than Chernobyl after rigging up explosives at an industrial chemical plant.
Experts worry that Russia may be planning an accident worse than Chernobyl after setting explosives off at a chemical manufacturing facility. According to Ukrainian news sources, the chemical facility in Crimea is close to a reservoir that has been called a toxic lake.
The military administrator of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, was appointed by Ukraine and warned that the explosion would result in a catastrophe even worse than Chernobyl.
Since Vladimir Putin began the "special military operation" on February 24, 2022, Russia has been charged with attacking Ukrainian infrastructure.
Ukraine accused Moscow of demolishing a dam from the Soviet era in Nova Kakhovka earlier this week. However, according to Russian authorities, Ukraine sabotaged the dam.
The moment that the Nova Kakhovka dam was blown up pic.twitter.com/BRp7p6zfje
— Yuriy Dryha 🇺🇦📸 (@drigli_)The damage resulted in significant flooding, necessitating the evacuation of thousands of residents.
Roman Svitan, a military analyst, reportedly discussed the Crimea Titan facility on Thursday (June 8), when he spoke on the Apostrophe TV news channel.
According to reports, he added that if the Russians believe Ukrainian forces are preparing an invasion, they could detonate the explosives at the factory.
"The plant is already completely mined, including containers with acid, chlorine and reagents," Svitan said, according to a translation by the Kyiv Post.
"They recently began to rig explosives there, because they saw the Armed Forces of Ukraine [AFU] could cross the Dnieper [River] and attack Armiansk....Blowing Crimean Titan up will have military expediency for the Russians, since chemical emissions can slow down the movement of the AFU."
Additionally, Prokudin cautioned in a video posted to the social media platform Telegram that the explosives will "release thousands of tonnes of toxic substances into the atmosphere" in an incident "worse than Chernobyl".
He said: “Residents of the Republic of Crimea and at least seven other Ukrainian regions will be affected, as well as Turkey [across the Black Sea] and the aggressor country itself."
It is said that the facility was formerly the biggest producer of titanium dioxide pigment, a substance used in paint, sunscreen, medications, and food colouring. However, due to concerns that it can be carcinogenic, the European Union this year banned the use of titanium dioxide as a food ingredient.