CHERNOBYL, (Ukraine): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday urged the international community to work together to guarantee global nuclear security and prevent a repeat of the Chernobyl disaster on the 35th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear accident.

He made the comments during a trip to the Chernobyl exclusion zone, an area spanning a 30-kilometre (20-mile) radius around the nuclear power plant that was evacuated in the aftermath of the accident and has been deemed unsafe for humans to live for thousands of years to come.

“Our task is to do everything possible to bolster security and strengthen safety to avoid and never repeat a similar disaster in the future,” Zelensky said in an address to Ukrainians, leading nationwide commemorative events.

In the capital Kiev, religious leaders and elderly veterans in military uniform involved in the fraught clean up efforts immediately after the incident joined a ceremony and placed flowers at a memorial.

“History does not go backwards,” Zelensky said in his televised speech, “so Chernobyl today is a common challenge and a joint responsibility for the future and safety of the planet”.