By Rostyslav Averchuk
Lviv (EFE).- Ukraine marked the 39th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear catastrophe on Saturday, the worst nuclear disaster in history while grappling with ongoing threats to atomic safety caused by Russia’s drone and missile attacks and its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, whose future remains uncertain.
On Apr. 26, 1986, a Moscow-directed experiment at Chornobyl’s fourth reactor, which ignored basic safety protocols, triggered a catastrophic explosion. The disaster exposed five million people to radiation and contaminated over 145,000 km² of territory, including 2218 settlements in Ukraine, causing tens of billions of euros of economic losses.
Soviet authorities endangered millions by “concealing the truth” and “delaying evacuation,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry stated in a commemoration statement.
At the same time, the country paid tribute to thousands of emergency workers who tried to limit the impact of the disaster at great cost to their health.
Renewed risks
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s top military commander, described Chornobyl in a statement as “a symbol of the price Ukraine paid to the totalitarian monster,” drawing parallels to Russia’s current actions.
In February 2022, Russian forces briefly occupied the Chornobyl plant during their failed attempt to seize Kyiv, taking 169 National Guard servicemen hostage, of whom only 65 have returned so far.
Russia’s sustained attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have threatened to destabilize the country’s three operational nuclear power plants, which are not designed to handle the sharp fluctuations caused by such strikes, according to Volodymyr Omelchenko, an energy expert at Kyiv’s Razumkov Center.
A radioactive leak at these plants, two of which are located less than 200 km away from the European Union’s border, could force millions of Ukrainians to seek refuge in the West, he told EFE.
In February, a Russian drone attacked the New Safe Confinement (NSC), the modern sarcophagus encasing Chornobyl’s ruined reactor. The resulting fire, which burned for several days, damaged both the exterior and interior of the structure, posing a direct threat to its stability.
A Russian-occupied plant
Meanwhile, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces since March 2022, has been transformed into a military base.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regularly reports explosions from drones near the facility. Russian troops’ pressure on Ukrainian staff elevates the risk of a nuclear incident through human error, warned Olga Kosharna, a Ukrainian nuclear expert, in an interview with EFE.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear company, reports that at least 30 people, including plant workers and residents of Enerhodar, the plant’s satellite town, are illegally detained by Russian forces.
Although the Zaporizhzhia plant is currently not generating electricity, Russia has indicated it may restart it to supply power to occupied territories, a move Ukraine strongly opposes.
Ukraine insists that restoring full control over all its nuclear facilities is a prerequisite for ensuring global nuclear safety. A reported peace plan attributed to Donald Trump, cited in English-language media, suggests Russia could cede Zaporizhzhia to Ukraine or place it under United States control.
The plant would then supply electricity to both Ukrainian and Russian-held territories.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed willingness to cooperate with the US on restoring the plant’s operations but only if Russian forces withdraw entirely. He emphasized that only Ukrainian engineers, familiar with the plant’s equipment, are qualified to manage it, noting the US lacks relevant expertise.
Ukraine calls for more pressure
Ukrainian officials and experts argue that the international community, including the IAEA, has not applied sufficient pressure on Russia to address its threats to nuclear safety. They point out that Russia continues to secure lucrative nuclear projects in various continents despite its actions.
“The price of silence, cynicism, and impunity is too high. Only through t actions can we stop Russian terror and prevent another tragedy,” the Foreign Ministry declared.
Meanwhile, Energoatom condemned Russia as the first state to conduct terrorist attacks on nuclear facilities, stressing that its crimes remain unpunished. EFE
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