Chernobyl: On 36th anniversary of disaster, Russia’s seizure of nuclear plant seen as ‘nightmare’

Photo of the New Safe Confinement at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant which covers the number 4 reactor unit, on the 36th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images) CHERNOBYL, Ukraine - Here in the dirt of one of the world’s most radioactive places, Russian soldiers dug trenches.

Ukrainian officials worry they were, in effect, digging their own graves.Thousands of tanks and troops rumbled into the forested Chernobyl exclusion zone in the earliest hours of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, churning up highly contaminated soil from the site of the 1986 accident that was the world's worst nuclear disaster.For more than a month, some Russian soldiers bunked in the earth within sight of the massive structure built to contain radiation from the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor.

A close inspection of their trenches was impossible because even walking on the dirt is discouraged.RELATED: U-M nuclear engineering expert explains impact of Russia's control of Ukraine plantOn April 26, 1986, an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine caused radioactive fallout that begin to spew into the atmosphere.

Dozens of people were killed in the immediate aftermath of the disaster while the long-term death toll from radiation poisoning is believed to number in the thousands.On Tuesday’s anniversary of the disaster amid the ongoing Russian invasion, it’s clear that Chernobyl — a relic of the Cold War — was never prepared for this.With scientists and others watching in disbelief from afar, Russian forces flew over the long-closed plant, ignoring the restricted airspace around it.