April 26 marks the 30th anniversary of the worst nuclear disaster in history at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Photographer Jadwiga Brontë traveled to Belarus to meet the invisible people still feeling the effects of the disaster.
The disaster occurred about 30 years ago, but its consequences are still felt to this day. When the reactor in Pripyat in northern Ukraine began to collapse, it became the worst nuclear accident in history, both in terms of casualties and financial costs. But this was not the end.
Photographer Jadwiga Bronte was born in Poland, just a week before the terrible tragedy. The proximity of the place and time of her birth to Chernobyl still determines the importance of this event for her.
Her latest project, “Invisible People of Belarus,” documentsthe lives of crippled victims of Chernobyl living in Belarusian government buildingsinstitutions – “boarding schools” – that act as “shelters, orphanages and almshouses all rolled into one.” Although the disaster occurred in Ukraine, it was Belarus that bore the brunt of the blow.
The living faces of boarding school residents give us a rare opportunity to see how Chernobyl survivors live. Decades later, they were too easily forgotten.
– Why did you decide to photograph these people?
– I was one of more than 18 million Poles who were given"Lugol" – iodine solution for protection against radioactive fallout after the Chernobyl accident. Unfortunately, not all affected countries did the same. Belarus is closest to Chernobyl and people here suffered more than others. The consequences of the accident affect public health to this day.
However, my project is not only about the victims of the Chernobyl accident. It's about all the disabled people that society doesn't notice. Unfortunately, the topic of disability is still taboo in Belarus. Perhaps this is due to the post-Soviet mentality, religion, or simply a lack of information and general knowledge about disability.
– 30 years have passed since the disaster – what is life like for those people you met?
– When I say “victims of the Chernobyl disaster,” I do not mean people who were direct victims, such as power plant workers or liquidators of the accident. I mean people who were born after April 1986 with physical or mental disabilities. Some of the Chernobyl children are now 30 years old, others were born recently, and many more will be born in the future. A mutated gene - a direct consequence of radiation - can be passed on through generations.
Most Chernobyl victims and disabled people live in Belarusian boarding schools These are government institutions - something between orphanages, shelters and hospices. To be honest, the people living in them are simply eking out an existence - they are not provided with any education, and their activity is minimal. They simply support their existence by cooking, cleaning and working in the fields.Very often they make strong friendships with each other and live for each other.
– What difficulties did you encounter while filming?
– These were difficulties of a personal nature rather than technical ones. Working in such places, it is impossible not to feel strong emotions - not only while filming, but spending time with the residents of boarding schools, listening to their stories and trying to understand how the system in which they live works.What you see is depressing.
– What do you hope to show or achieve with your photographs?
– I want these invisible people to become visible. I want people to know more about their lives and hear their stories that no one else knows. I want the Belarusian people to take better care of them, because the future of these people is truly in the hands of the Belarusian people.
There are places like these in many other countries throughout Europe and beyond. People must understand that it is wrong to separate those who have mental or physical disabilities,from the rest of society.
I hope that parents will become stronger when deciding to care for disabled children and see how beautiful they really are. Government agencies are not the best place for them. I saw this with my own eyes.
The ill-fated explosion at the fourth power unit of the nuclear power plant. At 01:23 at night, life in what is now called the “exclusion zone” changed forever: cities and villages were empty, the number of residents forced to leave their homes exceeded the 115,000 mark.
In total, radioactive fallout affected an area of almost 60 thousand square meters. km in the territory of the post-Soviet space, in total about 3 million people lived in these territories at that time.
It is also known for certain today that the Chernobyl disaster is:
- The release of radioactive materials into the atmosphere, the total amount of which reached 50 million curies (comparable to the explosion of 500 atomic bombs in 1945 in Hiroshima);
- Mobilization of about 600 thousand people to eliminate the consequences of a man-made disaster;
- At least 8.3 million citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus exposed to radiation;
- Pollution of an area of 60 square meters. km located outside the post-Soviet space;
- Approximately 4 thousand died from radiation at the time of the accident (data from WHO and IAEA), while the number of deaths as a result of the Chernobyl disaster in subsequent years is in the tens of thousands;
- More than 2 billion euros spent on the Shelter-2 project (by 2018, the structure will cover the current damaged “sarcophagus”).
In addition, at present, the territories “coastal” to the site of the Chernobyl disaster (about 150 thousand sq. km) remain uninhabitable.
Life in the “exclusion zone”
What does the “exclusion zone” look like after 30 years? Eyewitnesses claim that in the depths of Chernobyl, vegetation has practically destroyed the road surface, and many streets resemble scenes from horror films: buildings with collapsed roofs, shutters creaking in the wind.
However, people live there. Journalists from the German Deutsche Welle managed to communicate with some people now living in the “exclusion zone.”
Photo: Evgeny Fedorovich and Maria Prokopyevna
One of the few residents, 78-year-old “self-settler” Evgeniy Fedorovich, said that he had been living in the “exclusion zone” for 30 years: together with everyone else, he was evacuated during the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, but then he wanted to return home. From his words, it became clear that the few local residents save themselves by growing food.
“We are all practically illegal. We are called “self-settlers” - these are people who should not be here. We were also teased about “self-settlers” and “temporary residents”, but what kind of “temporary” is this if it lasts 30 years. We are not self-settlers, we are local residents,” Evgeniy Fedorovich tells reporters.
The interlocutor said that on the day of the Chernobyl accident he was working at a school and even saw smoke above the nuclear power plant. Then he did not attach any importance to it. Several days passed before the mass evacuation began, but three months later Yevgeny Fedorovich returned to the “exclusion zone.”
“I was ready to work as anyone, as long as it was in Chernobyl,” he continues.
Now, according to him, people in the “exclusion zone” have to survive: the man himself is fond of fishing, he and his wife grow vegetables and fruits.
Information about other residents of the “exclusion zone” is very vague: in total, about 180 people live there, of which approximately 80 people live in Chernobyl, while the rest live in neighboring villages. The journalists also talked with other residents of the “exclusion zone”; one of the interlocutors, Maria Prokopyevna, also said that she and her husband were saving themselves by growing crops.
“Of course, I heard that nothing can be grown on this land, but dosimetrists used to say that everything was within the acceptable limit,” said Maria Prokopyevna.
Each of those living in Chernobyl and nearby villages with whom the journalists were able to talk notes that postmen bring them pensions once a month, and occasionally (2 times a month) a truck shop comes by where you can buy food - cereals and bread.
Photo:REUTERS , Vasily Fedosenko
Nevertheless, local residents cope with difficulties and show the world around them by their example: there is still life in the “exclusion zone”. Experts believe that living in Chernobyl and the 30-kilometer “exclusion zone” is extremely unsafe, although possible: this is confirmed by cases where local residents lived to be 90 years old. However, the State Agency for Management of the “Exclusion Zone” is confident that it is impossible to live in Chernobyl itself for at least another 1000 years - this is due to the fact that the level of pollution is still high.
Specialists working in Chernobyl receive radiation exposure of 1.2 millisibert, while the norm is 1 millisibert per year. The Ukrainian authorities do not harass local residents due to the “gentleman’s agreement”, despite the legal ban, but they are also actively working to ensure that the number of “self-settlers” does not grow - they promise to evict all citizens planning to cross the border with the “exclusion zone” for the purpose of living.
Exactly 30 years ago, the Chernobyl disaster occurred; no more than 300 people still live in the exclusion zone. Nevertheless, the Polesie State Radiation-Ecological Reserve operates and breeds breeding animals, which even has its own apiary. The reserve's employees hope that one day radiophobia will decrease and streams of tourists will begin to visit the Chernobyl nuclear power plant zone. What happened on the night of April 25-26 in Chernobyl was not an accident, but a catastrophe on a global scale. But at first, neither the residents of Pripyat, nor Mogilev, nor the Bryansk region - the places most affected by Chernobyl, nor the managers of the nuclear power plant, nor nuclear scientists understood this, Novaya Gazeta points out. In the early days, members of the Politburo, who had a monopoly on decision-making, also did not have complete and reliable information. And as a result, on May 1, a traditionally cheerful demonstration took place in Kyiv, which this time rhymed with the terrible word “radiation.” And in those days, leaving your home even for a short time was deadly. In Chernobyl and Pripyat, children played in the courtyards: the weather was good, spring. No one in the contaminated areas was given respirators. Even members of the government commission who urgently came to Chernobyl and spent the night there. Then, of course, at the highest government level, sloppiness, departmental monopolism, and the secrecy of real information on nuclear power plants were branded. And then - at the level of the people - heroic deeds began: firefighters, rescuers, numerous volunteers (). While extinguishing the fire that arose at the fourth power unit and in the first, most acute days of eliminating the consequences of the accident, 31 people received lethal doses of radiation and died within three months, writes "Rossiyskaya Gazeta". The consequences of high exposure caused the death of 60 to 80 people over the next fifteen years. Another 134 people suffered radiation sickness of varying severity. In addition to the disabled powerful nuclear power plant (four power units of 1000 megawatts each), the deaths of operators, firefighters and liquidators, three neighboring republics, which have now become independent states, lost large territories long inhabited by people as a result of radiation contamination. More than 115 thousand people were evacuated from the 30-kilometer resettlement zone alone, which captured the border areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia ().As writes "Moskovsky Komsomolets", in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, a total of 900 settlements were affected by radiation. Nowadays a little more than three hundred thousand people live here. And before – more than five hundred thousand. Most left, settled, died. Time, like radiation, does not spare anyone. Radioactive iodine decays within the first two weeks after an accidental release. Cesium is stored in soil for 90 years. Strontium – even longer. Over time, the poison goes into the ground and is washed away by rains and floods. But not right away, not right away... April 26, 1986 was Saturday. After the weekend, radiologists went to work and saw that the background was off scale, but decided that it was the devices that had broken down... Only a few weeks later it became clear what had happened () Now more than 1.6 million Russians live in the zone of radioactive contamination. In the year of the sad anniversary, all of them received an unpleasant surprise - a reduction in benefits, they report "New News". The corresponding changes will come into force in July this year. They relate, among other things, to child benefits and payments. If now the state pays 80% of the Chernobyl parent’s earnings for children under three years of age, now in the first six months the amount will be 40% plus three thousand rubles, and from one and a half to three years a fixed payment of six thousand rubles will be paid. And the participants in the liquidation have had their electricity payment benefits reduced - now they will pay not 50% of the actual cost of consumed electricity, but half of the consumption standard. In addition, only those residents who have lived in the contaminated area for at least three years will be entitled to receive benefits and payments. That is, the number of beneficiaries will be reduced by hundreds of thousands ().According to "Nezavisimaya Gazeta", the perimeter, beyond which in other places cesium and strontium lie and flow in layers, is called the “Polesie State Radiation-Ecological Reserve” (PGREZ). Employees work in the reserve on a rotational basis for 10–12 days. The director of the only nature reserve of its kind in the world, Peter Kudan, said that due to the desertion of people in the radiation forests, many animals, birds and all sorts of reptiles have bred. They are increasingly inhabiting human habitation that has long since become ownerless. Among the “newcomers” from the north came brown bears. And from Ukraine, Przewalski’s horses, which were once brought there from the North Caucasus, were drawn into the restricted zone. For 20 years now, PGREZ has been breeding its own breeding horses, including Russian trotters. In the pasture behind the fence we were shown almost the entire large herd. Bison brought from Belovezh'e are also cultivated in the zone; their brood is also increasing every year: there were 16 individuals, now there are 116. In addition, an experimental garden has been established in the zone, and research is being carried out in the bee apiary. Moreover, honey is already being sold to the public - of course, after careful testing in the laboratory. I heard from local officials that the exclusion zone may be made more accessible for visits not only by journalists. This will certainly attract tourists and will help reduce radiophobia among the population. In the meantime, only people who once lived here are allowed into the reserve and only once a year, to Radunitsa - to visit churchyards and repair graves ().Now, 30 years after the Chernobyl tragedy, the secrecy stamp has been removed from many documents and information. Tell about them "Moskovsky Komsomolets" agreed with the former deputy director of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Alexander Kovalenko, who in 1986–1988 headed the department of information and international relations under the government commission for eliminating the consequences of the accident. Journalists covering the events of those years called him “Mr. Truth”, as he remained true to the principle - do not tell the press what you yourself do not believe. And now Kovalenko spoke frankly about the disaster, still blaming the station staff for the disaster, who were pressured by “an employee of the all-powerful Central Committee of the CPSU Georgy Kopchinsky.” “During the run-down tests (how long and in what quantity electricity will be generated for the pumps supplying water to cool the reactor), the power of the device dropped significantly below what was required by the program. The personnel were obliged to stop them and shut down the reactor. But instead, they began to try at any cost to increase its power to the planned experimental program. Twelve times the operators ignored the operating regulations and, contrary to dozens of instructions, turned off all emergency protection and cooling systems. So the cause of the accident is an illegal experiment,” Kovalenko is sure. “In 1986, there were rumors at the station that these tests were needed for Kopchinsky’s dissertation. And Dyatlov (deputy chief engineer) wanted to carry them out at any cost, because he promised to appoint him chief engineer or director of the station,” points out Kovalenko ().
Today marks 30 years since the largest man-made disaster in human history - the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The tragedy occurred on April 26, 1986. At about 01:30, an explosion at the fourth power unit of the nuclear power plant completely destroyed the reactor. A fire started in the station premises and on the roof. The accident resulted in the release of several tons of radioactive substances into the environment. The city of Pripyat, located near Chernobyl, was evacuated only on April 27. Anna Parpura, correspondent of the MIR 24 TV channel, met with eyewitnesses of the events.
“Everything was great. It was even scary because it was too good,” recalls Vera Belyaeva, a resident of the city of Pripyat.
The cloudless life of Vera Belyaeva remains only in old photographs. Then Pripyat was called the city of the future: wide streets, bright high-rise buildings and high salaries. Everything changed on an April night when eight tons of radioactive fuel burst into the sky. People thought that a fabulous rain had fallen over the city.
“Many residents went out into the street and caught falling stars with their hands. Subsequently, they received burns,” said Vera Belyaeva.
There was an explanation for the magic. Hot particles fell from the sky, irradiating people. Every minute, 48 thousand people in Pripyat alone received a lethal dose of radiation. But they began to evacuate only on the second day after the accident. Taking things and pets with you was prohibited. Only products and documents. They were promised that in a couple of days everyone would be able to return to their apartments.
“Here is the schedule of my daughter’s lessons, here is the horizontal bar on which my son did pull-ups,” says Pripyat resident and accident liquidator Valery Volkov, showing a video filmed in his apartment.
Valery Volkov took this photo seven years after the accident. That was the last time he saw his apartment. All that remains is a horizontal bar and an old chest of drawers. They tried to get rid of radiation as best they could: houses and streets were washed with water, contaminated furniture was buried in the ground.
“Radiation is neither heard nor seen. This is not the whistle of bullets or explosions of bombs,” says Volkov.
Valery knows better than anyone else that a stream of photons and atoms is more dangerous than a bullet. He was building the very fourth power unit where the tragedy occurred. Before the accident, he was responsible for the air conditioning system at the station. After seven years he eliminated the consequences of the explosion.
“After the accident, I worked at the nuclear power plant for another seven years. There was no one to replace me and, in the end, I myself stopped paying attention to radiation,” said Valery Volkov.
Valery was lucky. For 30 years there have been no signs of cancer. My wife died of cancer. Over the years, tens of thousands of people have died from the effects of radiation contamination. Hundreds of thousands had to start life from scratch, with nothing more than a package of documents.
“We drank tea from mayonnaise jars. We had nothing else,” recalls Vera Belyaeva.
Apartments for victims of the Chernobyl tragedy began to be allocated only a year after the accident. Before this, people lived as they had to. Vera Belyaeva's family huddled in one dorm room. At that time, even close relatives were afraid of the Chernobyl survivors.
“Even their relatives didn’t let many people in, they closed the doors. When we took our children out for a walk, the locals quickly left. Because there was no information. We were like lepers. What if, who knew? We didn’t know ourselves,” says Vera Belyaeva.
A year later, more than a thousand people returned to their homes, never finding themselves in the pure land. Thirty years after the tragedy, 200 people continue to live in the exclusion zone.
In Belarus, this day is remembered as one of the most tragic dates in history - the accident became the largest man-made disaster of the 20th century.
The reactor burned for 10 days. Thousands of heroes rose to overcome the consequences of the disaster. Among the first to be involved were military personnel of the internal troops and civil defense (CD). Military units were engaged in decontamination in areas affected by radiation, helped evacuate residents of Pripyat and Chernobyl, and military units ensured public order - they patrolled populated areas to avoid looting. A correspondent of the Minsk-News agency spoke with veterans of military unit 3310 (at that time military unit 11905) - direct participants in those events. Each of them has its own story, its own Chernobyl...
One day for getting ready
Directive of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces No. 314/8/231 was received on May 1, 1986. The 259th separate mechanized regiment of the USSR Civil Defense was supposed to arrive from the point of permanent deployment in the village of Okolitsa, Minsk region, to the Bragin area to carry out work to eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Only a day was allotted for preparations.
- We prepared quickly. Essentially, he took the troublesome suitcase and left. They returned not after three days, as they thought, but only after 13 months, - recalls retired lieutenant colonel Alexander Smolsky. - Wheeled vehicles left under their own power, while heavy tracked vehicles were recovered by rail. Upon arrival, we, the officers, were urgently gathered to familiarize ourselves with the situation, the situation was explained, and we began to arrange the arrangement and carry out the assigned tasks.
During the events at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Alexander Mikhailovich Smolsky was the assistant chief of staff of military unit 3310 - he stayed in the accident zone from May 3, 1986 to June 10, 1987.
- We realized the seriousness of the disaster much later, and the first days passed in a fog. The picture remains forever in my memory - there is not a single person on the streets, only empty windows of abandoned houses. Imagine, in the courtyards there is laundry hanging on lines, cats, dogs, chickens are running around, tables are set with food, but there are no residents or eaters. Creepy, - the veteran continues the story.
- At first I had to live and work in a tent city. They worked around the clock. The situation was tense, no one knew anything about radiation - before this, an accident of this magnitude was considered purely theoretically in classes. We lacked practical knowledge - we acquired this knowledge on the spot, once at the epicenter. The amount of radiation received was recorded and monitored daily. The maximum permissible dose for liquidators was considered to be 25 rem (REM - the biological equivalent of an x-ray); it is at this radiation dose that the first signs of radiation sickness appear. As part of my job, I was involved in measuring and recording the radiation levels of personnel. It is no secret that at that time they tried to hide the truth about the accident from the public. For example, underestimated data was entered. During a shift, our servicemen could receive the maximum dose. I tried to put as much as possible on the registration card. I was repeatedly accused of indicating high doses, and they even threatened to suspend me from work. Nevertheless, I assert that many of those who came to Chernobyl in the first wave chose their maximum with interest, but stood at their post until the end.
Taste and smell of radiation
The amount of radioactive material from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was about 740 g - this is a generally accepted fact. And the release of such a substance from the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was about 78 kg...
Thus, experts compare the damage from an accident at a nuclear power plant to the damage that could be caused by 100 bombs like the one dropped on a Japanese city.
- Yellowed trees, deserted streets - it was like being on another planet. The dosimeter needle was jumping like crazy. In some places it went off scale. My feet refused to step on this ground. It seemed that even the air here was poisoned. But since we were here, we had to behave with dignity and do what we should, - retired internal troops veteran Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Fedoseev describes his first impressions. - Later we learned to detect radiation by smell. There was a smell of ozone - this radiation ionized the air. I also had a constant sore throat - radioactive particles burned the mucous membrane, and there was a metallic taste in my mouth. We tried to protect ourselves. Someone found sheets of lead and lined the chair with them. However, we have calculated: to protect yourself from external exposure to radiation, you need to sit in a tank or in a suit made of 120 kg of lead.
- And after a while the equipment became terribly loud and could not be processed. It seems that we are decontaminating all visible places, but no, it’s phonitis. As it turns out, it's all in the engine compartment. The air filter, oil - everything was clogged with radioactive dust. They were forced to build a site where they left all the equipment.
Viktor Vasilyevich Fedoseev - during the events at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant he was the head of the chemical service of military unit 3310 - stayed in the accident zone from May 3, 1986 to June 10, 1987.
A huge area in northern Ukraine and Belarus was exposed to radioactive contamination. One of the tasks of the internal troops was the decontamination of contaminated areas.
- The essence of our actions was simple - we were engaged in dust suppression from the so-called ARS (autofill stations), filled with water with latex, which bound radioactive dust, and washed buildings, highways, and asphalt with a special SF-2U type washing powder. And a few days later the wind blew up a new cloud of dust, which again infected the streets. Everything had to be done again. And so day after day, says the veteran. - In general, at first it was really scary: abandoned cattle were dying of hunger everywhere. Moreover, one day we were driving in a restricted area and, while walking around the houses, we came across an old man. He secretly made his way into his house and lived quietly, taking care of the household. I felt sorry for the “partisan” with all my heart. And instead of sending him outside the 30-kilometer zone by force, we took out what we had from the food and left it for him. We treated looters completely differently. To be honest, there were also people who came specifically to make money. They dragged everything that, in their opinion, was of any value: carpets, household appliances, they dismantled cars and motorcycles for spare parts. However, the police dealt with the looters. There was no such evil among us. Although there was a case: our soldiers stole a turkey in the village. Young people want to eat, but they might end up in court. So, to teach them a lesson, we forced them to dig a hole with shovels and gave the turkey a magnificent funeral.
Of course, it’s a pity for the young soldiers who were thrown “into the embrasure.” They had no idea what radiation was and what danger they were exposing themselves to.
We created a desert
The exclusion zone on Belarusian territory along the perimeter was more than 130 km. The radiation background there ranged from 1 mR/h or more. In order to somehow reduce the level of radiation, the top layer of earth was removed, which was then taken to special burial grounds...
- They worked in different areas. Basically, we went to villages and took readings, identified places with severe contamination, examined wells, firewood and coal reserves, and measured water for radioactivity. The outbreaks were different: in one area there were heavily infected areas nearby and weaker ones - some spots emitted up to 15 roentgens. It was possible to stay near such zones for a limited time, so they worked in turns, quickly changing, - recalls retired Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Karbovnichy. - One of our tasks was to build a burial ground - this is a quarry, at the bottom of which a layer of red clay was laid with a layer of 50 cm, on top of a layer of thick polyethylene film, glued with tar. All this to prevent water from leaking out. Cut turf and destroyed structures saturated with radiation were taken to the burial ground for burial, things from apartments that could no longer be used, but only disposed of. The cleared areas were sprinkled with clean sand brought from the Dnieper. They did as they should, but, in fact, they created a desert around. I, like many, remember the “red” forest - the trees in it took on a large amount of radioactive dust, which is why they became completely red and yellow. I remember how two villages in the Mogilev region - Malinovka and Chudyany - were razed to the ground. Here the radiation density was 140 curies per square meter. m at a rate of 5.
- I also visited the nuclear power plant itself - I was the only one allowed from the battalion. I saw the reactor, however, already closed with a “sarcophagus”. You know, among ourselves we called the people who worked on the roof of the 3rd power unit biorobots, since they worked where the machines failed.
During the events at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Sergei Ivanovich Karbovnichy was deputy commander of the 1st mechanized battalion for political affairs of military unit 11905 (now military unit 3310), stayed in the accident zone from June 29, 1986 to June 10, 1987 and from May 17 to October 2, 1989
- That summer there was unbearable heat - it was exhausting, but you couldn’t take off your clothes: the wind was blowing clouds of toxic dust. Yes, and you walk around in a respirator for an hour, take it off, and it’s all wet and saturated with dust,- says the veteran. - Nature is beautiful: ripe cherries, apples, vegetables in the garden - there are many temptations. And what fishing! But all this is unattainable and dangerous. They were saved in different ways. I remember a professor of medicine came and he confirmed that alcohol also protects against radiation by binding free radicals that destroy the body. Moreover, for this method to be effective, you should not drink Cabernet or other dry wine, but only vodka. They drank tablets containing iodine and put on special suits. Nobody complained. In general, I am still amazed by the general spirit of the liquidators - concentration, seriousness and exceptional responsibility of all personnel. Everyone was doing their own thing. They worked harmoniously. I have never seen such an attitude towards work as there. It was as if everyone was saying to themselves: “If not me, then who?”
30 years ago, a fire at a nuclear power plant was extinguished, the destroyed reactor was buried, and radioactive emissions were reduced. The scale of the Chernobyl accident could have been much greater if not for the courage and dedication of the liquidators.
In Okolitsa, on the territory of military unit 3310, in April 2011, the first monument in Belarus to law enforcement officers - liquidators of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was unveiled. Every year, military personnel and veterans lay wreaths and flowers at the obelisk. With a minute of silence they remember the heroes who, at the cost of their health and sometimes their lives, did everything possible to localize the disaster and eliminate its consequences.
Photos from the heroes’ personal archive
