In the early hours of Sunday, the heart of Slavutych came alive as residents gathered in the central square for a poignant midnight vigil. They carefully placed candles upon a large radiation hazard symbol, commemorating the lives lost 40 years ago in the Chernobyl disaster and honoring the thousands who braved lethal radiation to manage its aftermath.

Each year, despite the challenges of wartime curfews and warnings against large gatherings amid Russia’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine, the community remains steadfast in their tribute.

The catastrophe that unfolded on April 26, 1986, starkly revealed the peril of poor safety protocols and governmental secrecy in the former Soviet Union. The explosion was initially concealed by Soviet authorities, only coming to light two days later after radioactive winds spread across Europe, prompting Swedish scientists to raise the alarm.

Approximately 600,000 individuals, often hailed as Chernobyl’s “liquidators,” were deployed to extinguish the fire and mitigate the contamination. Tragically, thirty workers perished within months due to the explosion or acute radiation sickness. The disaster exposed millions in the surrounding regions to hazardous radiation levels and led to the permanent evacuation of numerous towns and villages in Ukraine and Belarus.

Slavutych, situated about 50 kilometers (32 miles) from the Chernobyl plant, emerged from this crisis. While most evacuees were relocated throughout Kyiv’s districts, Soviet officials commenced the construction of this city in late 1986 to accommodate Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant workers and their families, with the first residents settling in around 1988.

Since its inception, Slavutych has withstood a brief Russian occupation during Moscow’s unsuccessful attempt to capture Kyiv in the early stages of the war, as well as harsh winters. Last winter was particularly severe, with power outages forcing some residents to cook their meals over open fires in the streets.

People of all ages gathered in the square, some arriving as families carrying spring tulips and daffodils. They lined up in a broad plaza framed by Soviet-era apartment blocks, where a memorial stands near a row of posters honoring local residents killed in the war.

Liudmyla Liubyva, 71, came to the ceremony with a friend. She used to attend with her husband, who worked at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant but later developed a disability linked to radiation exposure, and lost the ability to walk, she said.

Liubyva said it was important to honor those who sacrificed their health in the aftermath of the disaster, but Russia’s war has revived fears that the danger was never fully left behind.

“When the drone struck the arch, it felt like the world could return to 1986,” she said, referring to a Russian drone strike in 2025 that damaged the New Safe Confinement structure, the massive dome built to contain radiation from the destroyed reactor. “We all — young and old alike — must protect our land, because it is so vulnerable.”

Soft music played in the background as poetry about the disaster drifted over loudspeakers. “Years pass, generations change, but the pain of Chernobyl does not fade,” a woman’s voice recited. As the words echoed across the square, people dressed in white protective suits and face masks, symbolizing the liquidators, stood in silence holding candles.

Larysa Panova, 67, often recalls the day of the accident that forced her to leave her native hometown of Chernobyl, which transliterate as Chornobyl, and begin a new life in Slavutych. Though the new city has long since become home, she still thinks of the forests and rich nature of the place she left behind.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, she regularly travelled back to visit relatives who remained there or simply to spend time in the land where she grew up. But with the war, access to the exclusion zone became restricted.

“I never stop thinking of Chernobyl as my homeland,” she said. “You remember your school, your childhood, your youth — everything happened there, in Chernobyl.”

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AP reporters Vasilisa Stepanenko and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv contributed.

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