The memories of Chernobyl victims are only a small part of the sad archival heritage that Chernobyl left us. A significant number of documents, including under the heading “Top Secret”, became available to Ukrainian society in the early 2000s, when they had just begun to declassify the KGB archives. However, Chernobyl was a turning point in the perception of life not only for the liquidators themselves, but also for the vast majority of ordinary Soviet citizens, in particular, in terms of the perception of Soviet ideology.
It is no secret that among the liquidators of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, who had to deal with the nuclear danger at the cost of their health, there are those who do not want to remember that time at all. And one must delicately put up with this. However, more often it is still possible to hear quite frank confessions about the experienced and felt in the Chernobyl zone.
Further, in the material, we give an opportunity to reprimand those who have held enormous emotions in themselves for more than 33 years – the liquidators of the Chernobyl accident, they will talk about the Chernobyl tragedy through the prism of their own memories, and also share some of the rarest archival information.
From the personal memories of the liquidator of the accident
“… We were faced with the terrible reality of life – empty villages, many cats and dogs that were dying of starvation or radiation. A very depressing impression on everyone was made by the abandoned cities of Chernobyl, and especially Pripyat. Forgotten by all old men from nearby villages, the so-called refuseniks, also were met. Once we met an old man who ate caught crucian carp from a pond and mushrooms – we shared with him bread and canned goods. And there were many such people.
“… Once my head hurt so much that even shouting, but I had to do work to pump cement mortar under the 4th reactor. It was necessary to be constantly near the reactor itself, it was necessary to fix the amount of incoming solution for pumping. Then, they cleaned the contaminated territory with a bulldozer from equipment and soil from the side of the “Red Forest” and the 3rd power unit – the equipment could not stand it, and people did not. There was such a tense atmosphere that no one thought about their health at all. By the way, KGB officers “skillfully” worked then, constantly listening to our conversations, reading notations and scaring the “timelines” of those who said too much.”
From archival documents: “Secretly. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
From the Information message of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, August 22, 1986: …The KGB Directorate recorded an unstable moral and psychological situation among workers in the construction management of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The situation is controlled, reported in the Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
From the personal memories of the liquidator of the accident
“… The most terrible memories were when at night the pets abandoned by the owners and sometimes animals from the forest came very close to the tents in which we spent the night. They shone in the night darkness with their hungry eyes, howled wistfully, asking us for food and salvation …. We just could not help them.”
From archival documents: “Top Secret. Urgently. To intensify the work of the executive committees to prevent the occurrence of possible diseases due to the fact that a significant number of neglected animals and poultry remained in the evacuation zone” – from the Special Report of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR, May 11, 1986.
From the personal memories of the liquidator of the accident
“… We were attached to the Kiev motor transport enterprise, and we had to work on their transport, on what were called then “dirty” buses, that is, radioactively infected. We were warned that the area was dangerous, radiation everywhere, but how to measure it and how to determine the danger was unknown. Only after we said that we would go on strike, we were brought and handed out small boxes, there were some pills. Then it turned out that they had to be taken every day, and we were given one for the whole time. In response to the question: “How many X-rays did we receive?”, they simply said: “if you feel bad, contact the clinic.”
From archival documents: “Secretly. The USSR Ministry of Health clearly hides the effects of radiation exposure, both in small and large doses. This contradicts publicity and leads to neglect of radiation safety standards, which may adversely affect the health of current and future generations.”
From the personal memories of the liquidator of the accident
“… To a certain extent, my attitude towards the authorities changed after a trip to the zone. And the point is not only that it was constantly said on television that only volunteers work to eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, but this is a lie. Having returned home, the liquidators began to encounter bureaucratic callousness and indifference. Even then, we had to fight for justice, “knocking out” not only medicines for ourselves, but also such basic things as train tickets, which we had to provide without waiting in line … ”
“… According to the law, it was forbidden to involve certain categories of the population in liquidation work, but everything was different in reality. Very young guys and not quite healthy were sent there. There was a soldier in my company who, having returned from Afghanistan, did not even really see his family, he was taken in full dress uniform to Chernobyl.”
From archival documents: “Secretly. According to reports of the Chernobyl administration, in 1986, more than 390 tons of highly contaminated toxic mass ejected from the 4th reactor were dropped from the roof of the 3rd power unit and ventilation facilities, although, according to experts, these figures are significantly too high, since the roof could not stand would even half that weight.
The opinion is expressed that more than 3 thousand military personnel were unreasonably exposed as a result of unjustified involvement of the personnel of military units to clean the roofs of the 3rd reactor. The radiation exposure on the roof of the reactor was 500, and more than 10,000 x-rays per hour in some areas” – from the report of the KGB of the USSR on the inexpediency of restoring the functionality of the 3rd power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, February 1, 1987.
Facts: Chernobyl is the secret under lock and key
The whole truth about the Chernobyl accident has not come to the surface yet… Now, experts are arguing – is there nuclear fuel left under the sarcophagus or not? Some say that only about 3-4% of radionuclides were thrown to the surface during the explosion and fire, although many experts say that all 192 tons came to the surface. But knowing the truth is very important.
If the mine is really empty, if there is no nuclear fuel there, it means that it all came to the surface, circled the whole Earth. Japanese scientists proved that on May 19, 1986, in Japan, Chernobyl radionuclides were found in breast milk of a young mother.
Is it necessary to “save” children in Ukraine from the consequences of the Chernobyl accident?
After the Chernobyl disaster, we live in the same territory, in 12 Ukrainian regions contaminated with radionuclides. Those who were children at the time of the accident live and get sick. For example, many people evacuated from Pripyat live in Kiev.
115 children were examined in the course of medical research who were born from parents who received various forms of radiation in childhood. The result is objective – all 115 children are sick, some have 3-4 diseases. Such terrible chemical elements as strontium and cesium are found in bones and muscles. All this can be diagnosed today.
How does radiation affect cells?
First of all, it destroys DNA, as a result of which the genome is actually destroyed, and all these “gene breakdowns” begin to be transmitted to the third or fourth generation. Doctors unequivocally recognized that the level of oncological diseases had greatly increased precisely due to Chernobyl. Today, we live during the Chernobyl, because the decay period lasts for millennia.
The ashes from the explosion and conflagration at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is in each of us – in someone’s bones or in the heart. Some live with it for a very short life, while others, suffering from the consequences, still try to reach out to everyone living with a cry for help and warning for future generations. A peaceful atom and nuclear energy are doomed to oblivion, and the sooner this happens, the better it is for the planet.