Brussels says Moscow’s attacks on nuclear and energy infrastructure in Ukraine are undermining decades of international work to contain the consequences of the 1986 Chornobyl disaster, as the EU marks 40 years since the world’s worst nuclear accident.
The European Union has used the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster to call on Russia to stop all attacks on nuclear facilities in Ukraine and return the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to Ukrainian control.
In a joint statement issued for the anniversary, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and the European Commission said the disaster of 26 April 1986 remained one of the most serious nuclear accidents in human history. The statement said the Soviet authorities had concealed the true scale of the catastrophe, whose consequences became clearer only over time.
The EU said Chornobyl remained a warning that nuclear safety depends on transparency, effective safeguards and international co-operation. It added that Russia’s war against Ukraine had created new risks around nuclear installations, including at Chornobyl itself and at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“Today, Moscow’s continued strikes on the New Safe Confinement at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant undermine decades of international effort and €2.1 billion of investment aimed at mitigating the consequences of the catastrophe,” the EU statement said.
The New Safe Confinement was constructed to secure the remains of Reactor No 4, which exploded during a safety test in 1986, releasing radioactive material across parts of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and wider Europe. The structure was designed to contain radioactive material and allow the gradual dismantling of the unstable Soviet-era shelter.
The EU statement follows the drone strike on the Chornobyl site on 14 February 2025, when Ukraine said a Russian unmanned aerial vehicle carrying a high-explosive warhead hit the confinement structure above Reactor No 4. The International Atomic Energy Agency said its experts at the site heard an explosion and later observed damage and drone fragments. It did not attribute responsibility for the strike.
Radiation levels were not reported to have increased after the incident, but the damage to the protective structure was described as significant. A later Associated Press report said specialists were assessing the long-term consequences for the confinement system and the repairs required to restore its protective functions.
Brussels also pointed to the continuing occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest nuclear facility. Russian forces seized the plant in March 2022, in the early phase of the full-scale invasion. Although its reactors are not producing electricity, the site continues to require external power, cooling systems, trained staff and secure operating conditions.
The EU said Russia’s seizure and continued occupation of the plant had “significantly increased” risks to human life and the environment. It also said systematic Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure threatened the stable power supply required for the safe operation of nuclear facilities.
The IAEA has repeatedly warned that the war has created persistent risks for nuclear safety in Ukraine. Its Seven Indispensable Pillars, developed in March 2022, include the physical integrity of nuclear facilities, functioning safety and security systems, reliable off-site power, secure communications, proper working conditions for staff, radiation monitoring and logistical supply chains.
In its anniversary statement, the EU called on Russia to comply with those principles during armed conflict.
“On this tragic anniversary, we call on Russia to immediately cease all attacks on nuclear facilities in Ukraine and to respect the Seven Indispensable Principles of Nuclear Safety and Security during Armed Conflict,” the statement said.
The EU added that Russia would be held accountable for creating threats to public safety, would have to compensate for damage caused, and must return full control of the Zaporizhzhia plant to Ukraine.
Kallas had earlier condemned the February 2025 strike on Chornobyl, describing it as reckless and saying it showed that Russia was not seeking peace. The latest statement places that incident within a wider pattern of concern over nuclear risk, energy infrastructure and the safety of facilities located inside a war zone.
Forty years after the Chornobyl disaster, the site remains a symbol of Soviet secrecy and of the long-term consequences of nuclear failure. For the EU, the anniversary has also become a reminder that nuclear safety in Ukraine now depends not only on engineering and international monitoring, but on the end of military actions around nuclear infrastructure.
