Zelenskyy Marks Chornobyl Anniversary with Warning: Russia Holds Energodar Hostage

President draws parallels between nuclear disasters as Russian forces occupy Zaporizhzhia power plant

On the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of escalating dangers to Europe's largest atomic facility, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Energodar, under Russian military control.

"Russians have transformed our Zaporizhzhia nuclear station into an instrument of war, launching strikes from its territory against our cities and villages, storing weapons, ammunition and military equipment on the plant, mining the station's perimeter, and effectively holding our city of Energodar hostage. The facility has undergone complete power loss fourteen times already," Zelenskyy stated during his address.

The president characterized Russia as "an absolutely irresponsible and largely senseless force that must be genuinely constrained for the security of us all."

Attack on Chornobyl Confinement Structure

Zelenskyy highlighted a Russian drone strike on February 14, 2025, that struck the protective confinement structure covering the destroyed fourth reactor block at Chornobyl. "The very fact that Russians managed to hit a drone at the confinement structure sheltering the remains of the fourth reactor block demonstrates that Russia cannot be a participant in civilized international relations," he added.

Following the drone attack, emergency response efforts continued until March 7. International Atomic Energy Agency experts assessed that while the new protective confinement lost critical safety functions, its primary structural components and monitoring systems sustained no irreversible damage.

Historical Context and Current Situation

The original Chornobyl catastrophe occurred on April 26, 1986, when a powerful chemical explosion at the fourth reactor block destroyed portions of the reactor and adjacent machinery halls at 01:23 local time.

Russian forces occupied the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station and the city of Energodar in the initial days of the full-scale invasion that began in February-March 2022. Since occupation, the facility has ceased energy production, with all six reactor blocks remaining in cold shutdown status.