As many as 60 medics at a hospital treating injured workers from the recent Russian 'radiation explosion' have been flown to Moscow for urgent medical tests, it is reported.

One doctor was later found to have Caesium-137 — a radioactive isotope that is a byproduct of the nuclear fission of uranium-235 — in his muscle tissue.

The medic 'was not informed about the amount or concentration of the isotope found', reported The Moscow Times in startling new revelations over the explosion during a weapon test.

Three victims arrived naked and wrapped in translucent plastic bags on the day of the explosion - 8 August - but at no point were medics at Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Hospital told how the men had become injured except that it involved an explosion, it was revealed.

A mysterious Russian military explosion that left five Russian scientists dead last week happened during tests on a new nuclear-powered rocket. Officials were seen wearing protective clothing as they transported casualties

Villagers in Nyonoksa received urgent medical checks by top doctors from Moscow after a mysterious Russian military explosion left five Russian scientists dead

Helicopter is pictured transporting injured military to Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Hospital following the 'radiation explosion'

One day later all medical records from the incident were deleted by Russian secret services agents who visited to hospital.

Two of these three victims treated at the hospital later died en route to the airport to be transported to Moscow.

The incident is compared by one doctor to a shocking scene from the HBO mini-series 'Chernobyl' when doctors are depicted treating victims without protective gear.

In the drama, a nurse explains that their clothes should be burned, but the medics still handle toxic items with their bare hands.

'Thirty-three years later and our government hasn't learned a thing. They keep trying to hide the truth,' said a doctor at the Arkhangelsk hospital where this month's weapons test victims were treated.

This month's incident is now known to have killed five Russian weapons researchers, hailed as 'national heroes' at their joint funeral, but the state has not given specific details of how the 'accident' happened.

Others injured from the explosion at the testing site close to Nyonoksa (also called Nenoksa) village are in hospital care in Moscow, say reports.

All medics directly involved in treating victims at the Arkhangelsk hospital were told by the FSB secret service to sign non-disclosure agreements, reported the newspaper which cited medical sources.

Medical records of the incident at this hospital were also expunged from hospital computers, it was claimed.

Five medical sources at the Arkhangelsk hospital told The Moscow Times anonymously that they were 'shocked and angered'

It is not known if similar action was taken at other hospitals where victims were treated.

Five medical sources at the Arkhangelsk hospital told the newspaper anonymously that they were 'shocked and angered'.

It is unclear how many people were present in the village of Nyonoksa when the explosion occurred

Medics working directly with the patients were cautioned by the FSB - the Federal Security Service, formerly part of the KGB - to 'sign non-disclosure agreements that prevent them from talking about what happened', they said.

'They weren't forced to sign them, but when three FSB agents arrive with a list and ask for those on the list to sign, few will say no,' a senior doctor was quoted as saying.

It was the FSB officers who also found and deleted the files relating to victims of the explosion.

One doctor told the newspaper: 'The staff is furious to say the least.'

The medics were concerned that the wounded had been sent to a civilian not a military hospital.

A doctor said: 'This is a public hospital….We weren't prepared for this and other people could have been affected…Still, everyone did their jobs professionally.'

Later the victims were sent to a specialist hospital in Moscow.

The village has a population of around 500 and the mysterious incident led to a 'radiation spike' in nearby city Severodvinsk, according to reports

Around 60 medics from Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Hospital were also sent to Moscow for tests, it is now revealed.

This followed a meeting with regional Health Ministry officials at the hospital when they had failed to answer the staff's concerns, it is claimed.

'Rather than answers, the doctors were offered a trip to Moscow for tests,' stated the report.

'About 60 of their colleagues, including four or five paramedics who had transported the patients to the hospital, took up the offer.

Experts said they suspected the explosion and the radiation release resulted from a mishap during the testing of a nuclear-powered cruise missile at a facility outside the village of Nyonoksa

'The first group flew to Moscow hours after the meeting with the Health Ministry representatives, they said.'

One of those sent to Moscow was found to have Caesium-137 in his muscle tissue.

'One of the sources said the affected doctor had told him so directly, though he was not informed about the amount or concentration of the isotope found,' reported the newspaper.

This doctor had declined a request for an interview.

A colleague said: '[The person is] beaten down emotionally, but physically seems to be fine, for the moment.'

There is speculation that Russia was testing a superweapon when a suspected nuclear leak occurred

After two groups of medics flew to the Russian capital other flights were cancelled and radiation experts were flown to Arkhangelsk instead, according to the report -- https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/08/16/exclusive-russian-doctors-say-they-werent-warned-patients-were-nuclear-accident-victims-a66896

It was separately reported this week that doctors from Moscow were despatched to Nyonoksa the village closest to the weapons testing site where the explosion occurred - to give medical checks to all residents who were in the settlement at the time.

The village has a population of around 500.

Yuri Dubrova, of the University of Leicester, an expert on the effects of radiation on the body, told The Moscow Times that that the patients brought to the hospital most likely had high doses of the isotope on their skin.

'If the dosage wasn't very high, the person should be able to fully recover within a week if they are given clean food and water,' he said.

The lack of information put the doctors at risk.

'Exposure to Caesium-137 is quite preventable — all you need to do is wash the patient really well,' he said.

'But the doctors were made vulnerable to radiation because they hadn't been told what had happened.'

It also emerged that an operating theatre was sealed off for five days after the victims had been treated there.

Vyacheslav Lipshev, 40, was one of the experts killed in the blast. His widow Natalia Alexeeva, 40, posted a tribute: 'I love you my dear, how will I live without you? You are my everything'

It was now said by officials to be 'safe'.

But the records had been deleted from the hospital.

'It's as if the event no longer exists,' said one doctor.

'With no documentation the staff couldn't try to take anyone to court, even if they wanted to.'

Software and hardware specialist Alexey Vyushin (left), 43, and Vyasheslav Yanovsky (right), 71, were both killed

One of the dead was Evgeny Korotaev, 50, a leading electronics engineer and also a popular DJ, whose second wife had given birth to twin girls just seven months ago

Oksana Korataeva (pictured) is the eldest daughter of Evgney Korataev, who died in the blast

A medic claimed :every rule was broken' over the handling of the radiation incident.

'Why were these patients brought to a civilian hospital and not a military one? Why were staff not told to implement proper safety measures? Why were paramedics allowed to transfer them without wearing the right protective gear?'

The Moscow Times claimed the Russian authorities 'are keeping the circumstances surrounding the explosion shrouded in mystery.'

Government agencies were 'releasing information piecemeal amid a mass of contradictions'.

The states response 'echoes its behaviour after Chernobyl, the catastrophic 1986 nuclear accident in then-Soviet Ukraine.

'Official reaction has included initial denials that radiation spiked at all, and an announcement four days after the accident that the village of Nyonoksa, close to the military site, would be evacuated.

'Authorities later denied that they had ever ordered villagers to leave.

'The lack of information has led to confusion among locals, who reportedly scrambled to buy up all of the iodine, a chemical used to limit harm to radiation exposure, in the Arkhangelsk region.'