Ukraine Marks 40 Years Since Chernobyl Disaster Amid Renewed Nuclear Fears (Worthy News Radio)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – War-torn Ukraine is commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster amid lingering fears that the tragedy could occur again as war continues.

Survivors, including former staff of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, carried candles at a memorial to firefighters and workers who died in the world’s worst nuclear incident.

Archive recordings and somber music echoed through an open-air ceremony in Slavutych, the town built to house evacuees after the explosion in the early hours of April 26, 1986.

The blast at reactor four released radioactive material across much of Europe, despite efforts by Soviet authorities to conceal the scale of the disaster.

Millions were exposed to radiation, hundreds of thousands forced to flee, and vast areas of land contaminated.

Thousands have since died from radiation-related illnesses, including cancer, though the full toll remains disputed.

RUSSIAN ATTACKS THREATEN PLANT

Now, those remembering the victims’ faces renew their concern.

Kyiv says Russian missiles and drones have repeatedly flown near the site while targeting Ukrainian cities, and last year an attack damaged part of a protective shield covering the reactor.

Speaking in Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned the plant could risk a disaster worse than Chernobyl if it is not fully secured under Ukrainian control.

Nuclear energy has become central to Ukraine’s power supply since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, providing around 70 percent of electricity.

As ceremonies continue, many here are not only honoring the past, but also hoping and praying that such a disaster will never be repeated in wartime.

For now, the exclusion zone north of Kyiv remains eerily quiet.

Guards patrol the site as workers oversee its slow decommissioning, while wildlife roams freely through an area abandoned by humans—an enduring sign of nature’s resilience.

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