Zelensky accuses Putin of 'nuclear terrorism'
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “nuclear terrorism” on April 26 as Ukraine marked 40 years since the Chornobyl disaster. - Strikes across Ukraine, occupied Crimea, Luhansk and Russia killed at least 16 people, while Zelenskyy said Shahed drones still menace Chornobyl. - The warning came as nuclear-safety talks and repair planning continued after last year’s drone damage to Chornobyl’s confinement. (pbs.org)
Volodymyr Zelenskyy used the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster to accuse Russia of “nuclear terrorism” and warn that attacks near the plant could trigger another man-made disaster. (pbs.org) (president.gov.ua) The warning came on April 26, 2026, as strikes across Ukraine, Russian-occupied territory and Russia killed at least 16 people in a single day, according to local authorities cited by The Associated Press. Dnipro alone reported at least nine deaths. (pbs.org) Zelenskyy said Russian-Iranian Shahed drones “regularly fly over” the Chornobyl site and said one struck the plant’s confinement structure last year. Ukraine’s presidency said he repeated that message at a Chornobyl conference on nuclear safety and recovery. (pbs.org) (president.gov.ua) Chornobyl is not an operating power station in the usual sense. Its danger is the damaged fourth reactor and the systems around it, which still need electricity, monitoring and physical protection to keep radioactive material contained. (iaea.org 1) (iaea.org 2) That is why drone flights, power-line damage and fighting around nuclear sites draw such alarm. In January, the International Atomic Energy Agency said military activity had damaged a substation critical to Chornobyl’s power supply, disconnecting one line and underscoring how dependent nuclear safety is on the wider grid. (iaea.org) The broader nuclear risk in this war is not limited to Chornobyl. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, remains under Russian occupation, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly said its power supply and safety conditions remain fragile. (iaea.org 1) (iaea.org 2) Ukraine used the anniversary to press for outside help as well as issue warnings. Zelenskyy met International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi in Kyiv on April 26, and his office said the two discussed the situation at the occupied Zaporizhzhia plant. (president.gov.ua) European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Odile Renaud-Basso said at a Chornobyl conference the site needs major repair work after last year’s Russian drone strike damaged the New Safe Confinement. The bank said the bill for that damage is at least €500 million. (ebrd.com 1) (ebrd.com 2) Russia’s Defense Ministry did not immediately comment in the Associated Press report on the Ukrainian allegations about Chornobyl. Ukraine, for its part, did not comment on reported drone attacks in Crimea and the Luhansk region that Moscow-installed officials blamed on Kyiv. (pbs.org) Forty years after Reactor No. 4 exploded, the anniversary in 2026 was less a memorial than a warning: the site remains a symbol of a past nuclear catastrophe and a live front in a current war. (iaea.org) (president.gov.ua)
