UN adopts Ukraine-backed resolution on Chornobyl disaster US, Russia, and Belarus oppose

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a Ukraine-initiated resolution on strengthening international cooperation and minimising the consequences of the Chornobyl disaster.

The document was supported by 97 countries, while the United States joined Russia and Belarus in voting against it, per Ukrainian media.

The resolution, titled “Strengthening International Cooperation and Coordinating Efforts to Study, Mitigate, and Minimise the Consequences of the Chornobyl Disaster,” was backed by the majority of delegations present in the chamber.

In addition to Russia and the US, countries opposing the document included Belarus, China, North Korea, Nicaragua, the Republic of Congo, and Niger. Another 39 countries abstained.

The adopted resolution formally acknowledges the long-lasting and serious consequences of the accident and emphasises the need to support affected communities. The text expresses “serious concern” over damage to the new containment structure over the destroyed Chornobyl nuclear reactor on February 14, 2025, resulting from a Russian drone attack, which threatened decades of international safety efforts at the site.

The resolution also officially changes the English spelling of Chernobyl: UN documents will now use the Ukrainian transliteration Chornobyl instead of the Soviet-era Chernobyl. This change also applies to the official name of the International Chernobyl Remembrance Day, observed on April 26.

The General Assembly decided to hold a special session on April 24, 2026, dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the tragedy, and called on the international community to assist Ukraine in restoring the damaged nuclear plant infrastructure.

The position of the United States drew particular attention. A representative of the US delegation explained that the vote against the resolution was not a refusal to support Ukraine’s nuclear safety, but stemmed from ideological disagreements with the UN phrasing.

“The United States voted against the text because of the reference to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and associated language. The 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals promote a program of soft global governance incompatible with national sovereignty and contrary to US interests,” the diplomat said.

She also emphasised that Washington continues to support international nuclear safety standards and efforts to prevent incidents at Ukrainian nuclear facilities during the ongoing war.

Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Andriy Melnyk, sharply criticised Belarus for attempting to promote an alternative document. He reminded that Minsk had lost the moral right to such initiatives after allowing its territory to be used for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which led to the seizure of the Chernobyl plant by Russian forces.

“An act by a state allowing another state to use its territory to commit aggression against a third state qualifies as an act of aggression,” Melnyk stated.

Melnyk also highlighted the historical justice of changing the station’s transliteration. According to him, using Chernobyl stems from the Russian transliteration of the Soviet era, and continuing to use it represents a continuation of the imperial legacy.

By Tamilla Hasanova