Ukraine Marks 35th Anniversary Of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

A Chernobyl power plant employee holds a candle near a memorial in the shape of a radioactivity sign in the Ukrainian city of Slavutych on April 25.  Many of power station's personnel lived in Slavutych, located some 50 kilometers from Chernobyl.

A woman prays at a memorial in Slavutych dedicated to firefighters and workers who died in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

People in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, attend an April 26 memorial to firefighters and workers who died in the 1986 catastrophe.

A woman attends a commemoration ceremony in Kyiv on April 26 marking the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.

An Orthodox priest leads a memorial service in the abandoned city of Prypyat marking the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. Located near the doomed power plant, the city was evacuated after the disaster and remains a ghost town in the exclusion zone.

Candlelight from an overnight vigil illuminates a building in the abandoned city of Prypyat, near Chernobyl.

Staff from the Chernobyl nuclear plant hold candles as they visit a memorial dedicated to firefighters and workers who died after the disaster, during an overnight service in Slavutych. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits the exclusion zone to attend a ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. "Our task is to do everything possible to bolster security and strengthen safety to avoid and never repeat a similar disaster in the future," Zelenskiy said in a televised address on April 26.

A woman in Kyiv wipes away tears during a Chernobyl memorial ceremony.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, people wear protective face masks as they stand at the Chernobyl memorial in Kyiv on April 26.

Ukrainians lay flowers near a monument in Kyiv honoring those who died in cleanup efforts after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

A man lights candles in the central square of the ghost town of Pripyat near the Chernobyl power plant on April 26.

Flowers are placed in front of a memorial in the Ukrainian city of Slavutych dedicated to firefighters and workers who died in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

A disabled Ukrainian and veteran of the cleanup effort passes a monument honoring his fallen colleagues.

People hold candles at a monument to Chernobyl victims in the city of Slavutych.

At a monument in Slavutych, a man remembers firefighters who died after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.