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Abstract:
 

Ukrainian police arrested members of a criminal group in Poltava Oblast that had brought enriched uranium and cesium into Ukraine, hoping to sell it abroad, the Ukrainian paper Fakty i kommentarii reported on 23 May 2002. The paper reported that the uranium was in the form of "rings," while the cesium was held in separate containers. The article did not specify the level of enrichment of the uranium involved, nor did it give any details about the quantity of uranium and cesium involved. The group's members were residents of Kiev and Kremenchug (in Poltava Oblast).  According to the report, the uranium and cesium were stolen from an unspecified storage facility at a scientific research institute in the NIS.  Ukrainian security service agents had followed the movement of the contraband throughout Ukraine, which made it possible for them to identify the sellers, middlemen and buyers involved in the transaction.  The paper reported that the prospective buyers, identified only foreigners [their nationality was unspecified], were arrested on the Ukraine's western border while trying to leave the country with samples of radioactive materials in their possession.