Ukraine Marks 40 Years Since Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

KYIV, April 26 (Bernama-dpa) -- Ukraine is set to mark the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on Sunday, with commemorations expected at the site of the former Soviet-era power plant in northern Ukraine, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend a remembrance event at the plant. Due to Russia's ongoing invasion since 2022 and the site's proximity to Belarus, a close ally of Moscow, strict security measures are in place.

In Kyiv and other cities, ceremonies including moments of silence, exhibitions, concerts, film screenings and flower-laying are planned to honour the victims of the 1986 disaster.

Commemorations are also expected in Belarus, Russia and other former Soviet republics. Hundreds of thousands of so-called liquidators from across the Soviet Union were deployed at the time to contain the aftermath of the radioactive contamination.

On April 26, 1986, a test at the Chornobyl plant in what was then the Soviet republic of Ukraine went out of control. Reactor four suffered a catastrophic failure, releasing radioactive material into the environment.

Radioactive clouds spread across parts of northern and western Europe, with Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia most severely affected. The damaged reactor released radiation for months.

Experts estimate tens of thousands of deaths linked to the disaster. More than 100,000 people were evacuated from the 30-kilometre exclusion zone around the now-decommissioned plant.

BERNAMA-dpa