Vienna, 26 August 2026 – A symbolic walk of 829 steps was held at the United Nations Office at Vienna to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests, observed annually on 29 August.

The international initiative was organized by Dr. Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), H.E. Mr. Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the International Organizations in Vienna, and Rebecca Jovin, Chief of the Vienna Office of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).

The meaning of the 829 steps refers to 29 August (08/29), a date that has become a powerful symbol for many of the determination to reject nuclear testing. On 29 August 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site. Forty-two years later, on 29 August 1991, Kazakhstan closed the site, where 456 nuclear explosions had been conducted over more than four decades.

The Vienna event has launched a series of commemorative events in New York, Geneva and Vienna marking several significant anniversaries: the 35^th Anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk Test Site, the 20^th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia, and the 30^th Anniversary of the opening for signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

The 829 steps in Vienna became a symbol of remembrance and responsibility. They serve as a reminder of the human and environmental cost of nuclear testing while underscoring the need for joint efforts to advance peace and security and build a future free of nuclear tests.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa-vienna/press/news/details/1281486?lang=ru