CNN Correspondent Breaks Down Why Russia-Ukraine Fighting Around Chernobyl is ‘Quite Frankly Terrifying’

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked CNN Senior International Correspondent Mathew Chance on Thursday why he had earlier in the day called the prospect of fighting between Russia and Ukraine in and around the Chernobyl nuclear exclusion zone “quite frankly terrifying.”

“Do we have any idea why Russia might want control of Chernobyl? Is it just another piece of territory, or is there something more to it than that?” Tapper also asked.

“I’ve been they thinking about that a little bit and it’s difficult to say. But the obvious answer is the geographical location of it,” said Chance, before adding:

It’s not far from Kyiv, but it’s also on the border of Belarus, so it’s a bit of open territory which even though it’s contaminated terribly of course still with radioactive material, it is territory that gives access to Ukraine from the north, from Belarus. There was also a lot of speculation in the Russian media particularly before this invasion happened that Chernobyl could be a potentially dangerous place where an ecological disaster could be sparked.

“Ukrainians have been expressing their concern about that as well,” Chance noted.

“That’s why I said it was so terrifying that it’s a potentially dangerous military confrontation around that nuclear reactor, which is currently housed in a sarcophagus made out of concrete to try to limit any further damage that could be caused by it,” he added.

Chance concluded:

Of course, if it does become the focus of a strong military confrontation between these two armies, that could kick up all sorts of horrific radioactive material and, you know, cause that massive catastrophe to repeat itself all over again. I think probably it’s fair to say neither side wants that.

Watch the full clip above, via CNN