Honors the memory of the people who lost their lives in the worst nuclear power plant accident in history.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was situated in the Ukrainian city of Pripyat, located not far from the border with Belarus.
Construction of the plant began in 1970. Reactor 1 was commissioned in 1977.
The Chernobyl accident occurred on April 26, 1986.
A sudden and unexpected power surge lead to the explosion of Reactor 4.
Large quantities of radioactive particles were released into the atmosphere.
Parts of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were the most severely affected by contamination.
At least 41 people died during the accident itself or shortly after.
From 1986 to 1992, between 600,000 and 1 million civilian and military personnel were involved in eliminating the consequences of the disaster and were exposed to some level of radiation.
The entire city of Pripyat was evacuated a few days aster the catastrophe and is now abandoned.
On April 26, solemn ceremonies are held in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia as a remembrance of the disaster.
The Belorussian opposition holds an annual rally called Chernobyl Way.
