Forty years after the Chernobyl accident, the world is once again facing a nuclear threat, but this time, as the Ukrainian World Congress emphasizes, it is not the result of negligence, but a deliberate policy of Russia, which has turned the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant into an instrument of blackmail and military pressure.
This is reported in the official statement of the Ukrainian World Congress.
“In 1986, the reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. A radioactive cloud covered Europe in a matter of days. Moscow knew. And kept quiet. By the time other governments finally received a warning, millions of people had already received their dose. The silence did not just take human lives. It almost brought an entire continent to its knees. Forty years later, Russia is repeating the same thing. Not through negligence. On purpose,” the statement said.
In particular, the statement draws a parallel with the current situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russian troops have occupied and turned into a military base. There, according to Pavel Grod, the Russians are shelling the perimeter of the plant, disabling security systems and periodically cutting off the facility from external power, leaving critical infrastructure dependent on emergency diesel generators.
It is also noted that this is not about the collateral losses of war, but about a deliberate tactic of nuclear blackmail, when a nuclear energy facility is held hostage in order to test the reaction of the international community.
“This is not an accidental loss from hostilities. This is a calculation: to hold a nuclear facility hostage and see if the world dares to do something,” the statement emphasizes.
According to Pavlo Grod, president of the Ukrainian World Congress, a possible incident at the Zaporizhzhia NPP would have consequences far beyond the borders of Ukraine. Food and water security could be threatened, a new wave of mass migration could begin, and NATO allies could be destabilized. The statement emphasizes that neither radiation nor geopolitical contamination will stop at the borders of Europe.
Separately, Pavlo Grod emphasized that the lesson of Chernobyl was that concealing the truth and impunity for the guilty only exacerbates the scale of the disaster. That is why, according to him, if the world continues to silently watch Russia use nuclear infrastructure as a tool of blackmail, it will mean repeating the same mistake.
In this regard, the Ukrainian World Congress called on the international community to immediately seek the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Zaporizhzhia NPP and all nuclear facilities in Ukraine, to introduce direct sanctions for any military actions that threaten nuclear safety, and to provide Ukraine with everything necessary to protect people and critical infrastructure.
""The lesson of Chernobyl was to become a warning for all time. Russia made a textbook out of it. Now the world will not be able to say that it did not know," he concluded.”, – резюмував він.
Photo by AI
Author: Inna Mikhno