On Saturday, 12 April 2025, on the eve of the 39th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, employees of the State Enterprise ‘Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions’ (GDIP), in cooperation with the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, organised this year’s second official visit to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) for representatives of the diplomatic corps.
The official delegation included Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, staff members of the Embassies of Austria, Brazil, Greece, Japan, Poland, and Switzerland, and representatives of the United Nations, UNICEF, and the International Organization for Migration.
Accompanied by Oksana Pyshna, Lead Engineer for Civil Protection and Fire Safety at State Specialised Enterprise ‘Central Service Enterprise for Exploitation, Restoration and Safety’, the delegation began their visit with the Duga over-the-horizon radar, once used to detect intercontinental ballistic missile launches. The guests then visited the Star of Wormwood memorial complex in Chornobyl, viewed the scenery of the Chornobyl Bay, and walked the streets of the abandoned city of Pripyat — a place that once bustled with life.
The highlight of the visit was the tour of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Following a unique route through the Administrative and Household Facility No. 1 via the so-called ‘golden corridor’, the diplomats reached the Unit 3 control room and the memorial plaque dedicated to the first casualty of the 1986 accident — Valerii Khodemchuk, senior operator of the hydro-circulation pumps. The delegation also visited the observation platform of the Shelter Structure and saw the site where a russian drone carrying a high-explosive warhead recently struck the protective roof of the isolation structure above the newly constructed confinement arch over the destroyed fourth reactor unit.
The diplomats were deeply moved by the detailed account given by Alona Tiukhai, Engineer at the Visitor Support Department of the SSE ‘Central Service Enterprise for Exploitation, Restoration and Safety’. She described the acts of vandalism, nuclear terrorism, and reckless behaviour of russian troops during the 2022 occupation of the Exclusion Zone, as well as the recovery of the enterprises subordinated to the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management.
Witnessing the aftermath of the world’s most devastating man-made disaster, combined with learning lesser-known facts about the tragedy, left a profound impression on the participants. The visit significantly shaped their perception of the events and the scale of the catastrophe.
For more information about tours, please contact Romana Kasiianchuk, an employee of the Media Center Directorate, via email at skt.gdip@gmail.com or by phone at +38 097 258 40 19.
