On April 26, 2026, Ukrainian soldiers conducted a military exercise in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, 40 years after the nuclear disaster that rendered the area uninhabitable.
Troops trained in abandoned towns amid ongoing security concerns
Soldiers practiced defending the irradiated land against a potential repeat Russian attack, taking precautions to avoid the most radioactive areas. They crouched beside waterlogged, mold-covered walls and threw live grenades into homes already deteriorating from dry rot. The exercise highlighted the zone’s new role as an army-controlled security belt along the border with Belarus, a Russian ally.
Russian forces previously occupied the zone during the 2022 invasion
In February 2022, Moscow’s forces entered the Chernobyl exclusion zone on the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and occupied it for five weeks. The area, evacuated after the 1986 catastrophe, remains too radioactive for permanent human habitation. High radiation levels continue to prevent civilians from returning to the ghost towns where personal belongings like children’s shoes and dishes remain scattered.
Why is the Chernobyl zone still off-limits to civilians?
The 1986 nuclear meltdown released large amounts of radioactive material, contaminating soil and structures in the exclusion zone. Decades later, radiation levels remain too high for safe long-term human habitation, according to ongoing monitoring.
What is the current military apply of the area?
Ukrainian forces now use the zone as a defensive buffer zone along the Belarus border, conducting training exercises while avoiding the most contaminated spots to limit radiation exposure.
