Russian combat troops could blast their way through Ukrainian nuclear disaster site Chernobyl to strike at Kyiv, it was feared tonight.
Close to 8,000 extra Ukrainian Border Guards have been sent to the infamous radiation exclusion zone, close to Belarus to bolster security.
Ukraine is bracing for a Russian invasion, possibly from Belarus, using Chernobyl as a rapid gateway for tanks to race south to encircle the capital Kyiv.
The 1,000 square mile near-uninhabited exclusion zone reaches Ukraine’s Belarus border to the north - but could once more become the focus of death and destruction 36 years after the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
As many as 80,000 Russian and Belarus troops are in the neighbouring country, including Spetsnaz special forces, supposedly for military exercises.
Now, amid fears of an invasion here over 7,800 more Ukrainian troops have been sent to defend the abandoned Chernobyl region to stop Russian tanks storming south to Kyiv.
Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Shakraichuk, from the Ukraine State Border Guard Service said recently: “Chernobyl is an area of increased danger.
“We increased the strength of protection, we increased the number of patrols and we increased the number of people in these patrols.”
It is believed the area may have been identified as a fast track route for an invasion force.
Today we had special permission to visit the zone, a creepy area of derelict factory buildings and houses, Soviet-era installations and overgrown facilities hidden in the vast pine forest.
Among the densely packed forests, the entire area harks back to a powerful Soviet era, which was whittled down between 1988 and 1991.
Many in Ukraine believe Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to expand Russia’s domination of its surrounding countries to a kind of USSR Mark II.
As we entered the zone security officials gave us radiation detecting devices which pinged below threshold readings intermittently throughout our three-hour tour.
Just 145 civilians have resettled permanently here, mostly over 70 years old, who like the military are largely unseen, in a restricted zone around the site of the 1986 nuclear power plant meltdown.
It is believed the extra Ukrainian troops here are securing and searching abandoned buildings in case Russian Spetsnaz cross the border to spearhead an invasion.
Ukrainian National Guard troops also sent to the area were conducting war gaming exercises in Chernobyl on Tuesday, just a few miles from the Belarus border.
In neighbouring Belarus, a Russian Krasukha 4 electronic warfare vehicle was spotted in Zarechhye, in the Gomel region.
Russia is also expanding its “electronic warfare” battalions towards Ukraine and these can be used to jam communications or listen in on them.
The Krasukha is capable of smashing radar and aviation systems and would help an invasion by combating defensive radar systems, possibly jamming them.
The well-maintained highway running all the way from Chernobyl to Kyiv means Russian tanks could storm the 120-mile distance easily and quickly.
Russian troops could use abandoned buildings for cover as Ukrainian commanders might be nervous about launching air strikes and artillery against attackers in case they further spread radiation.
Radiation buried in the ground and in buildings might be pushed into the air by explosives if there was a bombardment.
And a lattice of once top-secret Soviet roadways through dense pine forests are still in good condition and could also be used by an invasion force.
These concreted lanes are flanked by pine trees close to 100ft high which could easily hide an attack force hiding from tanks and defensive positions.
One source said: “There would be a considerable advantage to using the abandoned buildings as there are so many and nobody goes inside them.
“The Russians will have the details of the secret Soviet road systems and will know they can still be used quickly to get tanks south to the outskirts of Kyiv.
“As the perfect route to Kyiv that is why it is being looked at as a possible invasion route straight through Chernobyl.
“This is the obvious way in for Russia if they have their eyes on a quick armoured strike against Kyiv.”
A once-secret road through the forest leads to Chernobyl Two - a town within the Chernobyl region that was top secret as far back in the 1970s as it was one of the Soviet Union’s many top-secret communities.
Anybody asking where the road led to was told it was a summer camp for kids.
It was actually linked to a now abandoned and then top-secret “over the horizon” intercontinental ballistic missile warning system called Duga, one of three the Soviets erected.
A few miles away the iconic Chernobyl site of Number 4 Reactor was covered in hundreds of thousands of tons of concrete wrapped in a metal cover by 2016.
This bulging concrete monster looms large in the creepy forested depths, a ground zero horror event which killed many and is the worst nuclear disaster ever.
On April 26 1986 during routine tests, power suddenly dropped and the reactor became unstable without workers knowing.
Unaware, they continued tests and the realtor shutdown immediately - although operator negligence and flaws in the reactor’s design caused a huge explosion.
Two more blasts melted the core rupturing the reactor and sparking a fire, releasing radiation which made its way across Western Europe and all the way over the UK.
About 49,000 people were evacuated from the area, mainly Pripyat.
Official figures claim a death toll of 31, although it is feared eventually it is and will be thousands from radiation.
In 2005 the UN predicted a toll of 4,000 but it is almost impossible to pin down as new estimates reveal it could be tens of thousands more in the coming years.
A Ferris wheel and other kids facilities planned for Soviet May celebrations in the town of Pripyat, in Chernobyl region was never used as disaster struck on April 20.
This was where many of the workers lived before disaster struck - and now the area could be the scene of even more destruction if Russia invades.
Trees and foliage have overrun the once bustling worker town, where near-derelict buildings hide amongst the overgrowth.
It would be an easy place to hide for Russian special forces at the head of an invasion coming down from the north towards Kyiv.
Meanwhile, 126,000 Russian troops are also gathered along Ukraine’s eastern flank in Donbas, 500 miles from Kyiv.
Many here believe Russia may try a lightning strike south to Kyiv, surrounding the city with tanks and artillery.
But if they do they could face a defiant counter-attack from Ukraine forces and civilian defence units launching guerrilla attacks.
A local woman - from Kyjv - chose not to be named and said: "People here are worried, determined and angry.
"Many have plans to arm themselves or have already got guns.
"They are also joining the civil defence forces to fight Russia if they come."
