40th Anniversary: Surviving Liquidators Return to Chernobyl

On April 26, 2026, the world marked the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster with commemorative events at the plant site and in Kyiv. Surviving liquidators from across Ukraine — including veterans from Poltava, Kharkiv, and Kyiv oblasts — returned to Chernobyl for official ceremonies. The men, now in their 60s and 70s, spoke of chronic headaches, dizziness, early disability retirement, and watching colleagues die in the decades since the cleanup. Ukrainian officials held the formal state ceremony 'Chernobyl. 40 Years On. A History That Obliges,' honoring the approximately 600,000 workers who served during the four-year cleanup from 1986 to 1990. Germany's Federal Office for Radiation Protection also issued a comprehensive 40th anniversary assessment of the disaster's ongoing environmental and health legacy. International observers including Chernobyl Children International held events in Kyiv and at the exclusion zone entrance.