Ukraine Marks Chernobyl at 40 as Strikes Kill 16 Across War

Ukraine marked the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on Sunday, April 26, 2026, as strikes across Ukraine, occupied territory and Russia killed at least 16 people in the surrounding 24 hours. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended the commemoration ceremony at the plant alongside Moldova's President Maia Sandu and accused Moscow of "nuclear terrorism."

Commemoration at the Plant

According to PBS NewsHour, Euronews and France 24, liquidators from Ukraine's Poltava region returned to the Chernobyl site for the first time in decades. April 26 marked four decades since the 1986 explosion at Reactor No. 4, history's worst civilian nuclear disaster.

Zelenskyy said "Russia is once again bringing the world to the brink of a man-made disaster," accusing Moscow of "nuclear terrorism" through repeated drone overflights of the exclusion zone and the February 2025 strike on the New Safe Confinement structure.

Strikes on Both Sides of the Front

In Dnipro, at least nine people were killed in Russian drone and missile strikes; an apartment block was hit and struck again while rescuers worked, per PBS NewsHour. In Sevastopol, Crimea, one person was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike, and three more died in a Ukrainian strike on a Luhansk region village. A woman was killed in Russia's Belgorod region.

Russian forces launched 144 drones overnight, of which Ukraine downed 124, according to Empr.media. Ukrainian forces struck the Yaroslavl oil refinery in Russia, a facility with 15 million tons per year of capacity that produces fuel for the Russian military.

Repair Costs and the New Safe Confinement

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said urgent repairs are needed to the New Safe Confinement shell that contains Reactor No. 4. The cost is estimated at 500 million euros, of which only 100 to 130 million has been committed by partners. Sunday's commemoration paired memory of 1986 with the realities of a war that has weaponized the exclusion zone itself.