Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, paid a warm tribute to him. Natalia Kodemtchouk, 73, died overnight Friday to Saturday. His building was hit by Russian attacks, his apartment was damaged by fire. 45% had burns, and the 70-year-old woman died of her injuries in hospital, reported Ukrinform, a Ukrainian news agency. Six other people were killed in the airstrikes led by Moscow.
Natalia Kodemtchouk is not just anyone. “She was the wife of Valeri Kodemchuk, the circulation pump operator at reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, who died on April 26, 1986. She was the only employee of the plant whose body was never found under the rubble,” recalled Volodymyr Zelensky in X.
A massive Russian attack on Kyiv on November 14 claimed the life of Nataliia Khodemchuk.
She was the wife of Valerii Khodemchuk, a circulation pump operator at Reactor 4 of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, who died on April 26, 1986. She was the only plant worker whose remains… pic.twitter.com/eHk4WuzuC0
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 15, 2025
The largest civilian nuclear accident in history occurred when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. The International Atomic Energy Agency officially estimates the number of deaths from acute irradiation at 30 and the number of deaths from cancer, whether proven or future, at 4,000. A heavy price, for which the Soviet government was at least partly responsible, due to the slowness in communicating the tragedy and activating its propaganda machine in the spring of 1986.
Like the entire region around Chernobyl, the city of Pripyat remains almost a ghost to this day. Natalia Kodemtchouk and her husband lived there until the explosion occurred. Evacuated to the capital, in a building intended for survivors, she raised her two children. In the same place he was killed by Russian soldiers. The seventy-year-old grandmother will soon take part in a photo shoot to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the disaster, according to the National Agency for Management of Ukraine’s Exclusion Zone.
Kyiv asks for “more air defense systems”
“Ukrainian citizens who survived Chernobyl and participated in the reconstruction of the country after the disaster are once again faced with danger: the terror of the aggressor state,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in his message paying tribute to Natalia Kodemtchouk and her husband.
An opportunity for the Head of State to convey a message to his international partners. “Ukraine needs critical support: more air defense systems, strengthening protection capabilities and increased resolve from our partners,” argued the Ukrainian president. “Only these steps will counter Russian terror and guarantee Ukrainian families the basic right to security in their homes.”
Military and moral support is the goal of Volodymyr Zelensky coming to Paris this Monday. He understands. The Ukrainian president signed an agreement with Emmanuel Macron that provides the Ukrainian army with combat aircraft – including 100 Rafales –, French-made anti-aircraft defense systems, radars and drones.
