On Saturday, 11 April 2026, in the lead-up to the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, the GDIP team members, jointly with the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management (SAUEZM), the State Specialized Enterprise ‘Central Enterprise for Radioactive Waste Management’, and the State Specialized Enterprise ‘Chornobyl NPP’ organized this year’s first official visit for members of the diplomatic corps to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. The programme also took participants to the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Among those who joined the visit were Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Arief Muhammad Basalamah (Indonesia), Osama Ablgasem (Libya), Shoayb Casoo (South Africa), and Alisher Kurmanov (Uzbekistan), as well as staff members from the embassies of Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland, alongside representatives of the European Union Advisory Mission and the UNHCR Representation in Ukraine.

The tragedy that took place 40 years ago changed not only Ukraine, but the entire world forever. The explosion at the nuclear power plant became a painful reminder of the cost of human error and of a danger that knows no borders. Decades later, the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant remains a symbol of loss, of the courage of the liquidators, and at the same time a warning to all humankind: even the most powerful technologies require responsibility, control, and remembrance of consequences that cannot be undone.

As part of the visit, staff members of foreign missions honoured the memory of employees of enterprises under the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management who lost their lives in the ongoing russian-Ukrainian war, as well as the memory of the Chornobyl heroes — the liquidators who were the first to confront the consequences of the 1986 disaster.

The diplomats then visited the Star Wormwood memorial complex in Chornobyl, took in the views of the Chornobyl Bay, and walked through the streets of the ghost city of Prypiat, once full of life.

The distinguished guests also visited the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, where, accompanied by deputy chief engineer Oleksandr Skomarokhov, they followed a unique route: through the Administrative and Household Facility, along the golden corridor to the Unit Control Room, then through the Central Control Panel to the space beneath the arch of the New Safe Confinement.

The participants were deeply affected by the frank account shared by Nadiia Mudryk-Mochalova, head of the Visitor Support Department at the SAUEZM. She described in detail the acts of vandalism, manifestations of nuclear terrorism, and the ridiculous actions of the russian troops during the occupation in 2022. She also spoke about the human losses, the damage amounting to hundreds of millions of euros, and the gradual restoration of the work of enterprises subordinated to SAUEZM.

The visit to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone once again demonstrated the continued attention of the international community to a place that has become a symbol of a global lesson for humanity. Today, Chornobyl is not only a site of memory of the tragedy, but also a space of responsibility, recovery, and cooperation. The presence of foreign diplomats served as an important sign of solidarity with Ukraine, support for efforts to overcome the consequences of the disaster, and a shared determination to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies in the future.

At the end of the visit, each participant expressed sincere gratitude for the impeccable organization and professionalism shown by the State Enterprise ‘Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions’ and its Director-General Pavlo Kryvonos; the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management and its Acting Head Volodymyr Feshchenko; and the State Specialized Enterprise ‘Chornobyl NPP’ and its Director General Serhii Tarakanov.