People in Ukraine gathered on Saturday to remember those who died in the Chornobyl power plant accident, marking 39 years of the nuclear disaster.



The accident that occurred on April 26, 1986, took the lives of about 30 firefighters and others who were exposed to a large amount of radiation while battling the fire. Many others near the plant in northern Ukraine suffered lasting health problems.



At the ceremony to commemorate the victims, participants laid flowers at a cenotaph and observed a moment of silence. Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Svitlana Grynchuk and workers at the facility were among them.



The event took place amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian government said in February that a Russian drone attack seriously damaged a radiation shelter designed to block radioactive substances from flowing into the atmosphere.



The Ukrainian foreign ministry referred to the February attack in a statement on Saturday. It said, "Russia once again pushed the world to the brink of a new catastrophe by launching a drone strike."



It calls on the international community to intensify efforts to protect nuclear plants from Russian threats. It says, "Only through joint actions can we stop Russian terror and prevent the recurrence of such tragedies."