Cork Charity Warns of Nuclear Risk as Ukraine War Enters Fourth Year

Cork-based Chernobyl Children International has marked four years since Russia's invasion of Ukraine with a stark warning about the growing dangers facing children and nuclear safety across the conflict zone.

Chernobyl Children International (CCI), founded by Cork's Adi Roche, issued the statement ahead of Tuesday, 24 February, the fourth anniversary of the invasion, which was launched through the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.

The charity highlighted recent large-scale attacks on Ukraine's electricity grid and last year's drone strike on the protective shelter at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant as evidence of an alarming convergence between humanitarian crisis and nuclear risk.

Adi Roche, Founder and Voluntary CEO of Chernobyl Children International, said:

"As we approach the 40th Anniversary of Chornobyl, we are reminded of the devastating and lasting impact a single nuclear disaster can have on children, families, and entire generations. The 'impregnable' sarcophagus that was meant to protect humanity is scarred and breached, heightening the risk of another nuclear catastrophe and it brings with it a sense of foreboding for wars of the future."

Roche added:

"The 'weaponising' of nuclear power plants brings our world to a very dangerous precipice. Never before in the history of the atomic age has a nuclear facility been taken over, always remaining globally 'off limits' because of their lethal potential to destroy the planet. We are playing Russian Roulette with a loaded gun."

Since the invasion began in 2022, CCI has been calling on world leaders to invoke the Hague Convention, which classifies any attack on a nuclear facility as a war crime, and to declare all nuclear facilities a "No War Zone."

Despite the ongoing conflict, the charity has continued its humanitarian work in Ukraine, delivering direct aid, winterising projects, and relocating its life-saving Cardiac Programme to Lviv.

The 26th of April 2026 will mark 40 years since the Chornobyl nuclear disaster. As the only NGO recognised by the United Nations working with Chornobyl victims, CCI will lead national and international commemorations of the anniversary. Since 1986, the charity has delivered over €108 million in humanitarian aid and programmes to victims and survivors.