Ukraine Anti-Nukes

On April, 23th, the eve of 11th Anniversary of Chernobyl, a group of activists from the environmental movement ‘Rainbow Keepers’, ‘Ecodefence’ (Ecozahust) and NECO groups blockaded the Ukrainian President’s residence in Kiev/Ukraine to protest against Ukrainian nuclear policy. They dodged armed ‘militia’, defying a 3 year ban on all public protest. The activists chained themselves to the front gates and unrolled a banner. They then demanded that President and Government shut down Chernobyl; end their plans of creating a “closed nuclear fuel cycle” in Ukraine; do not startup new reactors at Rovno and Khmelnitsky; stop uranium mining in Ukraine; stop the Nuclear Energy Development Programme, and redistribute the finances from this programme to the development of energy efficient technologies. After an impromptu 45 minute press call, they were arrested and released 6 hours later.