Ukraine on Sunday commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, as the ongoing war with Russia continues to raise fears of another potential nuclear catastrophe.
Authorities in Kyiv have accused Moscow of repeatedly launching missiles and drones along routes close to the nuclear facility while targeting Ukrainian cities. Officials also reported that a key protective structure at the site was damaged during an attack last year.
The anniversary of the disaster, which spread radioactive material across much of Europe despite attempts by Soviet authorities to conceal its severity, has taken on renewed significance amid the ongoing conflict.
“The Chornobyl disaster was the result of a reactor experiment ordered by Moscow, in violation of safety protocols, and followed by lies and cover-ups,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement this week.
“To this day, the world has to face consequences brought by a totalitarian system that subordinated truth and science to ideology and political power.”
The explosion and subsequent meltdown at reactor four of the Soviet-era plant in the early hours of April 26, 1986, exposed millions to radiation, forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate, and contaminated vast areas of land.
In the years since, thousands have died from illnesses linked to radiation exposure, including cancer, although the full scale of long-term health effects remains widely debated.
A major international effort led to the installation of a massive steel and concrete structure in 2016, designed to enclose the original sarcophagus built shortly after the disaster to contain radioactive debris.
However, officials said a Russian drone strike in February 2025 damaged the structure’s sealed system. While no radiation leaks were detected, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development estimates that repairs costing at least 500 million euros are required to prevent lasting damage.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s chief state prosecutor told Reuters that radar systems had detected at least 92 Russian drones flying within a five-kilometre radius of the protective shield since June 2024.
For security reasons during wartime, details of official commemoration events are typically not made public in advance.
Situated about 100 kilometres north of Kyiv and surrounded by a 2,600-square-kilometre exclusion zone, the site remains largely deserted. A recent visit revealed a quiet, eerie landscape stretching across nearby forests.
Security personnel continue to guard the facility, where around 2,250 workers operate in rotating shifts as part of the ongoing decommissioning process. The plant’s final reactor was shut down in 2000.
Inside, the control room of reactor four now lies abandoned, filled with rusting and damaged equipment from the Soviet era.
Wild animals, including moose and horses, now roam freely through the exclusion zone and the nearby deserted city of Pripyat, reflecting how nature has gradually reclaimed the area in the absence of human activity.
