India, April 25 -- 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, irresponsibility and contempt for safety. For days, the fire sent radioactive material far beyond Ukraine's borders, contaminating large parts of Europe. The total radiation from the released isotopes was 30 times greater than that from the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Over 145,000 square kilometres of land were contaminated with radionuclides, and 8.5 million people were exposed to radiation. The Kremlin hid the true scale of the disaster and its consequences. Diagnoses of radiation exposure were falsified, and data on contamination remained classified until 1989. Over the decades, books, films, documentaries, and investigations have revealed the full scale of the tragedy and its long-term consequences. Chornobyl was a verdict on the Soviet system itself. Four decades later, Russia - the self-proclaimed heir to that system - is once again putting the world at nuclear risk. Russia's war against Ukraine has turned nuclear danger into an instrument of coercion. On the first day of the invasion, Russian forces seized the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. The symbolism was chilling. They occupied it until the end of March 2022, when they were expelled by Ukraine's armed forces. As they withdrew, they took 169 Ukrainian national guard servicemen guarding the plant into captivity. Some have since been brought home in prisoner exchanges. Others remain in Russian captivity. The threat did not end there. Since March 2022, Russia has occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest nuclear station. The IAEA has repeatedly warned about the fragility of safety conditions there: Shelling, explosions, repeated off-site power disruptions, and dependence on emergency systems have all become part of the plant's abnormal reality. Even when all reactors are shut down, nuclear fuel still needs cooling and constant safety oversight. In March 2025, the IAEA monitoring team reported multiple explosions at the Zaporizhzhia plant. A diesel fuel tank that supplied electricity to the plant's emergency generators sustained damage at the temporarily occupied facility on March 26. This incident was a direct result of Russia's replacement of licensed Ukrainian experts with unqualified personnel. The world received another warning in February 2025. On February 13, a Russian drone struck the new safe confinement at Chornobyl. Completed in 2016 at a cost of €1.5 billion, the structure was built to cover the destroyed fourth reactor and prevent further radioactive release. It stands as a monument to international solidarity, supported by 45 donor countries, with the G7 playing a central role in financing the shelter. The IAEA reported a fire and severe damage to the arch's outer cladding, though radiation levels remained normal. Later, assessments found that its confinement function had been significantly degraded and that major repairs were needed. This was not just an attack on Ukrainian infrastructure; it was a Russian attack on one of the world's most important nuclear safety projects. In April 2026, EBRD donors approved a programme to support nuclear safety at Chornobyl in response to the damage caused by a Russian drone strike in 2025. Initial estimates place repair needs at €500 million. Ukraine is deeply grateful to its partners not only for helping build this protective shield, but also for helping preserve it after Russia tried to breach it. That is why Ukraine's peace formula, presented by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, opens with radiation and nuclear safety as its first point. It calls for safe, regulated and controlled use of nuclear facilities. The appeal arose from the reality created by Russia's war. Any discussion of peace that ignores the militarisation of nuclear sites is detached from reality. No settlement is possible while an aggressor State occupies civilian nuclear infrastructure and uses it as leverage. India actively participated in the series of meetings of national security advisers and political advisers held within the framework of President Zelenskyy's peace formula in Copenhagen, Jeddah, Malta, and Davos and the inaugural peace summit in Switzerland. Unfortunately, it did not join the joint communique adopted at Burgenstock. Ukraine remains a major and responsible nuclear-energy nation, with one of Europe's largest civilian nuclear sectors and deep expertise in the operation of reactors that are used beyond our borders. Ukraine's industry and engineering expertise helped make nuclear projects based on Soviet-era technology possible. Even today, despite Russia's aggression, Ukraine remains actively engaged in the peaceful development of nuclear energy through direct cooperation with international partners, helping build a safer nuclear future. Forty years after Chornobyl, the central truth is painfully clear. Nuclear safety cannot coexist with imperial violence. No occupation of a nuclear plant can ever be normal. No drone strike on a confinement shell can ever be treated as just another wartime incident. And no international order is credible if it allows a State that once promised to respect Ukraine's sovereignty to occupy its nuclear facilities and endanger the world. The only durable guarantee of nuclear safety in Ukraine, and, therefore, in Europe, is the full restoration of Ukrainian control over all its civilian nuclear sites. To remember Chornobyl in an honest manner is to honour the victims and liquidators of 1986. It is also to see the warnings clearly and act before the world faces such a tragedy again....