Russian strike at NATO ammo depot turns Khmelnitsky into little Chernobyl

According to media reports and messages posted on social media, the amount of radioactive dust in the Ukrainian city of Khmelnitsky has increased considerably. People post messages about a noticeable increase in alpha and gamma radiation. Kyiv denies such reports, but people post photos and videos with their dosimeters.

According to social media, the explosion of the ammo depot in Khmelnytsky led to the destruction of a large batch of British tank ammo with depleted uranium that Ukraine had received together with Storm Shadow missiles.

"Khmelnitsky is now a new little Chernobyl,” a person wrote on APW project.

Other bloggers reported that there were remotely controlled firefighter robots used to remove the rubble. The robots look similar to those that were used after the Fukushima disaster.

According to "Every Day News" project, there are only two options to explain what is happening in the city now:

• The recent explosion has destroyed depleted uranium shells at the ammunition depot in Khmelnitsky (in Kyiv this was called a gas station explosion).
• A nuclear bomb was damaged as a result of the explosion of the warehouse. It may go about either a nuclear ammo that was supposedly delivered to the Armed Forces of Ukraine or the infamous dirty bomb.

Earlier, the UK announced that it had sent depleted uranium shells to Ukraine to be used for British Challenger tanks.

The Ukrainian command stores weapons at various warehouses throughout the country. Russia regularly strikes those warehouses in drone and missile attacks.

"I don't know whether there were depleted uranium shells in the destroyed ammunition depot in Khmelnitsky. However, as long as our government does not say anything on the topic, I would recommend that local residents evacuate children from there,” Ihor Mosiychuk, a former Ukrainian MP said.

Experts note that there will be no significant increase in background radiation as depleted uranium triggers long-term effects, such as:

• a sharp increase in the rate of cancerous diseases;
• an increase in liver, kidney, circulatory system and brain diseases;
• congenital abnormalities in newborns.

Local residents also reported the presence of air monitor patrols in different parts of the city after the strike.

The Russian Armed Forces struck the warehouse near the city of Khmelnitsky on May 13. It is believed that the attack was carried out with the help of combat drones. The strike led to the appearance of a huge "nuclear mushroom" explosion rising into the sky. 

Rybar Telegram channel reported that according to the earthquake monitoring system of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, at 04.52 Moscow time, 3.4 magnitude shocks were recorded northwest of Khmelnitsky. Sources of the Telegram channel confirmed that a significant number of anti-aircraft missiles for Western-made air defence systems, including Patriot air defence missiles, were stored at the 649th aviation depot in the village of Grushevitsa.

In addition to munitions, €83 million worth of satellite communications systems, military tablets and data encryption systems were said to have been destroyed in the attack. The Russian forces have thus obliterated weapons worth 200-220 million euros. The weapons were received from Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Japan.