Chernobyl: Ukrainians Remember Nuclear Disaster as Threats Loom

On Wednesday, workers in Chernobyl, Ukraine celebrated the 37th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear accident. In memory of those who died, they put down flowers at a special monument. The event was even more somber considering the area is currently suffering from an ongoing war and nuclear threats.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked about the possibility of an atomic disaster happening again in Ukraine due to its current war with Russia. He linked it with what happened back in 1986 at Chernobyl when Moscow took control of the plant and made it into a radiation-contaminated area.

President Zelenskyy said in an English message on the messaging app Telegram that last year, something happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that put the world in danger again. In April 1986, when an explosion and a fire occurred there, lots of radiation was released into the air. Many people died right away due to this disaster and it’s impossible to say how many people were affected by radiation poisoning later on.

Early on February 24th 2022, a lot of tanks and soldiers drove into the area around a nuclear power plant that was covered with toxic radiation. The Russian military stayed there until March before they left and the place was taken back by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine’s president, Zelenskyy, said they’ve brought back the security and science in their country after the War. He also warned that any future decisions made by Russia could be risky for the safety of nuclear weapons worldwide.

Russia has been controlling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant – one of Europe’s largest and 10th biggest power plants in the world – since they won the war.

Ukraine has said that Russia is using a plant as an offensive base to attack cities on the other side of the Dnieper River. This plant used to have six reactors, but they have been shut down since last year.

President Zelenskyy said that we have to do everything we can to make sure the same law-breaking country doesn’t try to threaten Ukraine or other countries with nuclear power. He even put flowers at two memorials in Kyiv for Chernobyl victims and shared pictures of it in his Telegram post.

At the Chernobyl area, workers and engineers were given awards from the Environment Minister and they all paid tribute by laying flowers at the memorial.

Mykola Pobedin, an engineer, remembered the really scary time he spent when the Russians took over his town. He had been working at his station for 35 years and was very surprised to see a tank pointing at it on that day. He couldn’t eat or sleep well for almost a month and even bread started running out.

150 Ukrainian soldiers captured during Russia’s takeover of the Chernobyl area are still held in Russian prisons. The radiation from this area has gone back to an acceptable standard.

Strilets said that when Ukraine’s flag was raised in the Chernobyl station on that day, it marked a definite victory for their country in the fight against Russia.

You can keep up with what is happening between Russia and Ukraine by visiting https://bigbignews.net/russia-ukraine.