Ukraine is marking the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster with commemorations at the former nuclear power plant in the north of the country, alongside remembrance events in Kyiv and other cities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend a ceremony at the site of the damaged reactor.

Authorities have introduced strict security measures due to the ongoing Russian invasion since 2022 and the plant’s location near the Belarus border.

In Kyiv, events include minutes of silence, exhibitions, film screenings, concerts and wreath laying ceremonies in memory of those affected by the 1986 disaster. Similar commemorations are planned in other cities.

The Chernobyl accident occurred on 26 April 1986 during a test at reactor four of the then Soviet-era plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Republic.

The reactor suffered a catastrophic failure, releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere.

Radioactive fallout spread across parts of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and wider Europe.

The damaged reactor continued to release radiation for months after the incident.

Authorities at the time evacuated more than 100,000 people from a 30-kilometre exclusion zone established around the plant.

Hundreds of thousands of workers from across the Soviet Union were later involved in containment and cleanup operations.

Estimates of the death toll vary, with experts placing the number of fatalities linked to the disaster in the tens of thousands over time.