Yes... but we've been lied to so much, I trust nothing now. If someone wanted to make a no-man's land, this place is perfect. Except obviously now it isn't a smoking wasteland, at least not in places. It could be a fable like the many we have just suffered through over covid. Here's many numbers in one place to start: https://www.livescience.com/chernobyl-exclusion-zone

The exclusion zone has grown recently. Is the containment leaking, or what?

Ukraine rushed there at the first sign of Russians. https://www.the-sun.com/news/4527019/ukraine-defend-chernobyl-radioactive-russian-invasion/

If it's so deadly, why would the Russians go there? They know which way the wind blows, literally, and that radioactive wind could blow on them too.

Here's a radiation dispersal guide: https://chernobylguide.com/chernobyl_radiation/

Here's a study on the effects of radiation on the closest people, over the years: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC149393/ It's going down.

Videos: https://www.epa.gov/emergency-response/recovering-nuclear-incident-lessons-learned-chernobyl

It's all moot now as the Russians have captured it. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/russian-forces-capture-chernobyl-nuclear-site/2821427/