\u201cThe Chornobyl shelter is designed and required to contain the vast radioactive contents of the unit 4 reactor. It\u2019s not just a roof but a massive, sophisticated machine designed specifically to prevent the release of radioactivity into the environment. And now Russia has hit it with an explosive, penetrated the steel roof and caused a fire. How long will Russia\u2019s targeting of Ukraine\u2019s nuclear plants – including its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia plant and its war crimes – be allowed to go unpunished?\u201d said Shaun Burnie, nuclear specialist at Greenpeace Ukraine. <\/p>\n\n
On the first day of the Russian full scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the Chornobyl nuclear plant was attacked and occupied by Russian armed forces and personnel from Rosatom, the state nuclear corporation. <\/p>\n\n The shelter was built with funding from 45 governments, including the EU, to contain the remains of the Chornobyl reactor 4 which was destroyed in the worst nuclear disaster in history on 26 April 1986. The shelter is designed to prevent radioactive material, including particles and gases from escaping into the environment. In the 1990\u2019s Ukraine and the international community concluded an agreement that the original Soviet built shelter or sarcophagus that was built over the destroyed reactor in the immediate aftermath of the disaster was at major risk of collapse. The new confinement shelter weighs 36,000 tons, is 108 metres high and 162 metres long, and has a span of 257 metres and a lifetime of a minimum of 100 years.<\/p>\n\n \u201cWith this outrageous attack, Russia is escalating its war against Ukraine to a new level. It proves that there are no limits to Putin\u2019s aggression and the Russian government is willing to put the Ukrainian and European populations at risk.\u00a0 This could be the final wake-up call to the international community to urgently send more support to Ukraine to protect its critical infrastructure, including its highly vulnerable operating nuclear power plants,\u201d said Jan Vande Putte, nuclear expert at Greenpeace Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n Greenpeace Ukraine with other Greenpeace organizations has conducted several missions to the Chornobyl<\/a> site since the Russian full scale invasion, including a survey of the Russian trenches in July 2022 on the invitation of the Ukraine government to document Russian crimes against the environment during their occupation of the ChEZ till March 2022,(2) and a mission to the Chornobyl shelter in September and November 2024.<\/p>\n\n Russia has systematically launched disinformation campaigns to falsely blame Ukraine for attacks it has carried out itself. We documented false flag operations, such as blaming Ukraine for drone attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant<\/a> or the explosion of the Nova Kakhovka dam in 2023<\/a>.\u00a0 The international community should swiftly reject such attempts and make Russia accountable for its war crimes.<\/p>\n\n Video and images from Greenpeace Ukraine and Germany missions to Chornobyl available here:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-ukraine-stateless\/2025\/02\/4f0e79bc-5294056537242857986.jpg\")
Mission 2022
<\/a>Mission 2023
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