Zelenskyy brands Russia strikes 'nuclear terrorism'
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- Zelenskyy accused Russia of "nuclear terrorism" on April 26, 2026, using the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster to argue the invasion is "again bringing the world to the brink of a man-made disaster."
- Russia launched more than 100 drones overnight, killing five people across Ukraine, in what Zelenskyy called the latest installment of an almost nightly barrage that has continued since the start of the war in 2022.
- Zelenskyy noted that Russian drones regularly pass over Chernobyl and that one struck the plant's protective metal shell last year.
- Greenpeace said repairs to Chernobyl's massive outer structure are virtually impossible while Russia's invasion continues, a concrete consequence of the war on the 1986 disaster site's containment.
- Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear agency, took over the Zaporizhzhia plant—Europe's largest civilian nuclear facility—after Russian occupation; the plant is now in shutdown mode.
- Ukraine operates four nuclear power plants, which the source describes as vital to the country's power supplies, placing the entire fleet inside the nightly drone threat.
Why it matters: Zelenskyy tied Russia's nightly drone campaign directly to nuclear-infrastructure risk on Chernobyl's 40th anniversary, with Greenpeace confirming the protective shell cannot be repaired while fighting continues. With four nuclear plants—including the occupied, shutdown Zaporizhzhia complex—essential to Ukraine's power supply, the same barrages Zelenskyy condemned now threaten both civilians and the grid they depend on.
