Reckless Russian troops who helped themselves to dangerous materials at the Chernobyl nuclear plant could be dead within a year from radiation poisoning, experts warned.
Ukraine's State Agency for Managing the Exclusion Zone said 133 substances were stolen after invaders raided two labs.
In a Facebook post it said: "Even a small part of this activity is deadly if handled unprofessionally."
It comes after energy minister German Gulashchenko said Russian troops had exposed themselves to "shocking" levels of radiation.
He stated: "After a month of such exposure, they have a maximum of one year of life. More precisely, not life but a slow death from diseases.
"Every Russian soldier will bring a piece of Chernobyl home. Dead or alive. The ignorance of Russian soldiers is shocking."
More than 100 workers and 169 Ukrainian guards were trapped inside an underground nuclear bunker for more than a month without fresh air and natural light.
Now pictures have emerged of inside the plant - the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986 - showing a floor blanketed with discarded clothes, cups and sleeping bags, with underwear and towels hanging from a line below the ceiling.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy told CNN it is not known where the Ukrainian guards are, but it is feared they have been taken to Russia through Belarus.
"They were kept here for 30 days without sufficient lighting and food," he told the American news outlet.
"They were not allowed outside. On the last day, they were taken away from here in an unknown direction. Today we know nothing about their fate, unfortunately.
"The Russian military went through all Ukrainian clothes, personal belongings, like dogs, in search of, probably, money, valuables, laptops. There was looting here. The Russian military stole computers and equipment."
One soldier is reported to have died from radiation poisoning with pictures also showing Kremlin forces actually dug trenches in the Red Forest near the plant, a known location where radiation has settled since the 1986 disaster.
Shocked journalists discovered evidence of food and cooking in the Red Forest which suggests Russian troops spent an extended period of time in the trenches.
One Russian military ration box discovered exhibited radiation levels 50 times above naturally occurring values, CNN reported.
Signs of a fire in the area, with the forest providing the fuel, also means radioactive smoke might have spread.
Staff at the Chernobyl said the Russian soldiers contaminated the power plant with radioactive material they carried back from the forest on their shoes.
The radiation levels increased at the power plant as a result, Ukrainians at the plant said.
Chernobyl is not an active power station but staff maintain the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster to avoid further radiation leaks.
Russians held the plant for a month and access to the site opened this week, providing evidence of how little regard the Russian soldiers had for nuclear safety.
