The 40th Anniversary of the Chornobyl Disaster: A Reminder of the Tragedy and a Warning to the World

April 26 marks the 40th anniversary of the accident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant—one of the most tragic events in Ukrainian history. The explosion at the fourth reactor changed the lives of millions of Ukrainians, and its consequences have affected the entire world and are still felt today.

The Museum of the History of the Governments of Ukraine houses unique exhibits documenting the first hours and the subsequent course of events following the accident. Among them is the notebook of Oleksandr Liashko, who headed the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR in 1986. It records the steps taken by the Ukrainian Government in the first hours after the Chernobyl accident and the delays by the central Soviet authorities in granting evacuation permits and warning people of the danger.

Ukrainian services took charge of the cleanup and acted rapidly. Firefighters, medics, rescue workers, and thousands of other specialists were the first on the scene, working at the risk of lethal radiation exposure. In total, nearly 600,000 people were involved in the liquidation of the consequences.

“Today, russia continues to follow the behavior patterns of a totalitarian regime. At the start of the invasion in 2022, the russian army occupied the territory of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant; the plant’s security guards remain in captivity even now. In February 2025, a russian drone damaged the new safe confinement structure over the fourth power unit. The russians continue to disregard global nuclear safety principles, creating risks on a continental scale—they are occupying Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhzhia NPP, and systematically shelling it,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

Chornobyl did not remain back in 1986.

It is a constant reminder of the real threat that totalitarian regimes pose to global energy security.

Eternal memory to the liquidators and all those who died as a result of the disaster.