Russia announces ceasefire for May 8th and 9th

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for an end to Russian “nuclear terrorism” on the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. With its war of aggression against Ukraine and drone attacks, Russia is once again bringing the world to the brink of catastrophe, Zelensky said in a Telegram channel. Last year, the steel containment shell over reactor 4 of the power plant that crashed on April 26, 1986 was damaged.

The structure should prevent radiation leakage and contamination; its preservation is in everyone’s interest, said Zelensky. The cost of repairing the steel structure is estimated at half a billion euros.

“The world cannot allow this nuclear terrorism to continue, and the best way is to force Russia to stop its insane attacks,” Zelensky said. He has also long been calling for an end to the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plantwhich Moscow’s nuclear company Rosatom brought under its control after the start of the war.

Zelenskyj used a video to commemorate the largest nuclear disaster in the history of civil use of nuclear power 40 years ago in Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. “Glory to all the victims of the Chernobyl disaster,” he said. (sda/dpa)