It has been 37 years since the greatest man-made disaster in the history of mankind. It was on April 26, 1986, at 1:23 a.m., that a powerful explosion occurred at the fourth power unit of the Chornobyl NPP. As a result, part of the reactor and engine room were destroyed. A fire broke out. The fire spread to the roof of the third power unit. It was extinguished until 5 o’clock in the morning.

The radioactive cloud that formed after the explosion and fire covered not only the territories of modern Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, but also the territories of many other countries – Sweden, Austria, Norway, Germany, Finland, Greece, Romania, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia. According to the International Scale of Nuclear Events (INES), this accident was classified at the highest – the seventh level of danger.

31 people died from acute radiation sickness in the first months after the explosion at the Chornobyl NPP. 8.5 million people were exposed to radioactive radiation.

About 240,000 people took part in the elimination of the consequences of the accident. The total number of liquidators for all years is over 600,000.

In the first days after the accident, the population of a 10-kilometer zone was evacuated, later the evacuation zone was expanded to 30 kilometers. 115,000 people were deported.

According to the number of accident victims, Ukraine ranks first among the former republics of the Soviet Union.

At the end of 1986, the destroyed reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was covered with a special “sarcophagus”. According to experts’ estimates, about 95% of the fuel that was in the reactor at the time of the accident remained under it.

On December 15, 2000, the work of the Chornobyl NPP was stopped. In 2004, a tender was held for the design and construction of a new “sarcophagus” – the New Safe Confinement. Work began on October 29, 2007. On November 29, 2016, the NBK Arch was pushed onto the “Shelter” facility and put into operation. According to the plan of the designers, the new building will be able to solve the problem for at least a hundred years.

On December 8, 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring April 26 the International Day of Remembrance of the Chernobyl Disaster and the International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Radiation Accidents and Disasters.

After 36 years, Chernobyl experienced the second disaster – the invasion of Russian troops.

February 24, 2022 the Russian invaders occupied the exclusion zone and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. For almost 36 days, the Chernobyl zone suffered from looting and destructive actions. The occupiers took out a unique radiological laboratory, captured the defenders of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. For 5 days, the power plant did not receive external power necessary for the safe storage of spent fuel.

The invaders distorted the streets, left explosive shells and dangerous traps, ransacked the offices of enterprises.

But the Ukrainians successfully overcame the second catastrophe caused by the invasion of the “Russian world”. They expelled the occupiers, undertook the restoration of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant zone, the preservation of the “Shelter” facility as an ecologically safe system.