40 years of tragedy: Chernobyl and new risks from Russian attacks

The world remembers the Chernobyl disaster, which changed history. Decades after the tragedy, Ukraine again faces the threat of nuclear danger.

26 April 2026 marks 40 years since the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant — the largest man-made disaster in human history.

On the night of 26 April 1986 the plant’s fourth reactor unit exploded. Huge amounts of radioactive materials were released into the atmosphere, causing widespread contamination of territories and severe health consequences for people.

According to official data, 1,253,303 people in Ukraine were affected by the consequences of the disaster, including 135,180 liquidators who in the first hours and months contained the spread of radiation.

To localize the consequences of the accident, a sarcophagus was initially erected over the destroyed reactor, and later a new safe confinement was built with the participation of more than 40 countries worldwide. These structures are what today contain the radiation and protect against new releases.

However, Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has again put nuclear safety at risk. Russian drones regularly fly over the exclusion zone, and in 2025 one of them even struck the protective confinement.

This creates the risk of a new man-made catastrophe, the consequences of which could affect not only Ukraine but all of Europe.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky published a post on the anniversary of the tragedy, which highlights current threats:

“The world must not allow this nuclear terrorism to continue, and the best way is to force Russia to stop its mad attacks. We remember everyone who gave their lives mitigating the consequences of this tragedy. Eternal memory to all victims of the Chernobyl disaster”.

Previously we wrote:

• Strike on the Chernobyl NPP has consequences: damaged confinement threatens collapse of the sarcophagus
• IAEA sounds the alarm: Russian strikes forced Ukrainian NPPs to reduce generation
• “The sarcophagus may not hold,” — director of the Chernobyl NPP fears a repeated Russian strike
• IAEA inspected the Chernobyl NPP after a drone strike: is there a threat?
• Hostile drone breached the defenses of the Chernobyl NPP: is the world on the brink of radiological danger?