In 1986, the Ukrainian World Congress and its member organizations helped expose the Soviet cover up and denial of the worst nuclear disaster in history. Our communities provided emergency aid immediately following the disaster and helped mobilize international support. In the decades that followed, UWC and its member organizations contributed numerous programs of medical, humanitarian, and technical assistance to deal with the legacy of the nuclear power disaster. The international community contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to help contain and remediate the fallout.
After 35 years, the Soviet legacy of Chornobyl still haunts Ukraine. Today Ukraine faces a new man-made environmental catastrophe at the hands of Moscow. Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula and Donbas region are zones of environmental disaster. Air and soil contamination, chemical spills, flooded mines, and the threat of radioactive contamination in Donbas, pollution of the Black and Azov seas are all consequences of Russian aggression and disregard for human life.
