India, April 24 -- On Sunday, April 26, Ukraine and the world will mark 40 years since the Chornobyl disaster - the worst accident in the history of civilian nuclear power. That day, we honour the memory of over 600,000 heroic liquidators who risked and sacrificed their health and lives to save the world from the consequences of the disaster. What exploded in 1986 was not only a reactor. The Chornobyl tragedy was the ultimate manifestation of Soviet irresponsibility, as official secrecy, negligence, and systemic lies culminated in a disaster of global consequence felt across Europe and even in the Arctic.

The explosion at reactor no. 4 was the result of grave flaws in the reactor's design and a Soviet system built on secrecy, irresponsib...