Maia Sandu
The head of state will visit Kiev and Chernobyl itself to pay tribute to the heroes of the liquidators who, at the cost of their lives and health, prevented the nuclear disaster from spreading in Europe.
“The Chernobyl accident showed us that disasters know no borders, but it also revealed the power of international solidarity. The arch erected over the contaminated reactor is proof that countries can do extraordinary things when they act together,” the head of state wrote on social networks.
Maia Sandu also emphasized that today Europe needs the same determination and unity to defend peace, noting that Moldova’s place is “next to those who choose creation rather than destruction”.
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which took place on April 26, 1986, is recognized as the largest nuclear power disaster in the history of mankind. The explosion of Unit 4 released 400 times more radioactive substances into the atmosphere than the bombing of Hiroshima. Huge territories of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia were exposed to radioactive contamination, the cloud reached Europe and even the east coast of the USA.
More than 3,500 Moldovans took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident. Many of them died of radiation sickness or were disabled.
Every year on April 26, the country celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Disaster.
