Ukrainians recall Chernobyl tragedy
Ukraine marked the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster today with pealing bells, candlelit ceremonies and parliamentary debates about how much the country still does not know – and how much it needs to do to bring relief to the millions affected by the world’s worst nuclear accident.
President Viktor Yushchenko, arriving by helicopter at the shuttered Chernobyl nuclear power plant, laid two red carnations beneath a monument to the victims of the April 26, 1986, explosion as dozens of the emergency workers who risked their lives stood nearby.
