Chernobyl radiation level 'abnormal' since Russian takeover

RADIATION levels are being considered as 'abnormal' at Ukraine's famous nuclear power plant, Chernobyl.

The UN atomic watchdog chief on Tuesday described radiation levels at the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site as "abnormal," saying the area's brief Russian occupation had been "very, very dangerous."

Nuclear engineer Liudmyla Kozak was part-way through a 12 hour overnight shift at the defunct Chornobyl plant when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and workers heard loud explosions from the edge of the so-called exclusion zone around the site.

As military planes zipped overheard and the sound of fighting grew nearer, Kozak and her colleagues realised the next shift of workers would not arrive to relieve them as scheduled that morning.