Ukraine marks Chornobyl 40th, calls sanctions

Ukraine marked 40 years since the Chornobyl disaster on April 26 by linking the 1986 explosion to current nuclear dangers from Russia’s war. (usnews.com) Reuters reported commemorations in Slavutych as Kyiv said Russian missiles and drones have repeatedly flown near the Chornobyl plant and damaged its protective shelter in February 2025. (usnews.com) At a United Nations General Assembly commemoration on April 24, Ukraine’s ambassador Andrii Melnyk called for coordinated sanctions on Russia’s nuclear industry and demanded the return of the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. (ukrinform.net) (un.org) Melnyk said Russian forces used the Chornobyl exclusion zone as a military corridor in 2022 and said a Russian combat drone struck the New Safe Confinement on February 13, 2025. (ukrinform.net) The New Safe Confinement is the giant steel arch built over reactor 4 to contain radioactive material and allow dismantling of the original 1986 shelter. The European Union said Russia’s strikes on that structure have undermined decades of work and €2.1 billion in international investment. (enlargement.ec.europa.eu) The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on April 24 that repairing the damage from the 2025 drone strike will require at least €500 million. The bank said it had already mobilized more than €2.5 billion in international funds for Chornobyl over the years. (ebrd.com) The wider risk is not limited to Chornobyl. The International Atomic Energy Agency said on April 17 that Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, temporarily lost all off-site power twice in one week after its last remaining power line was disconnected. (iaea.org) The European Union used the anniversary to call on Russia to stop attacks on nuclear facilities, compensate for damage, and return full control of Zaporizhzhia to Ukraine. It said a Group of Seven discussion on Chornobyl repairs is planned for May. (enlargement.ec.europa.eu) United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in remarks delivered on April 24, said about 350,000 people across the region were forced to flee after the 1986 accident. He called Chornobyl the most significant nuclear accident in history. (un.org) The United States also marked the anniversary on April 26, saying Chornobyl reshaped global nuclear safety standards and that nuclear power must remain in responsible hands committed to transparency. (state.gov) Forty years after reactor 4 exploded, the anniversary was no longer only about Soviet secrecy and radioactive fallout. It was also about whether war can turn Europe’s nuclear sites into active targets again. (usnews.com) (iaea.org)