They also "took off with 169 prisoners". I wonder who was among them that they have to make a radioactive scare story out of it?

I don't buy the digging trenches in the Red Forest. No-one fights trench warfare in this day and age. That's so late 19th C. They had fully dispensed with the idea in WW1. Note that in general peeps didn't in WW2, and usually militaries start a war as they fought it in the previous war. TBH I believe the Russians have improved their military tactics since then. There were some photos of some earth disturbance, so I suppose they were retrieving something, but the cover story is very thin indeed. Then they say even the nuclear plant workers are not typically allowed to go there (Red Forest). Sounds ideal for hiding something nefarious, though doesn't it?

Also looting. LOL when you take prisoners, you take their devices. That is not looting. It is a simple precaution.

Someone is quoted as saying "Radioactive material could have been released". So there is some doubt then? Later they say:

Russian troops had been evacuated from the forest to Belarus for acute radiation syndrome (ARS) treatment - though this is yet to be verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Again with the ambivalence.

Also, Russia has not confirmed or denied anything. That's a big tell.