CHERNOBYL AND WHY WAS RUSSIA TRYING TO HIDE IT?

Chernobyl, a mini series of five episodes produced by HBO, is a filmed story of one of the most horrifying catastrophes of our time, the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant accident in Ukraine, then within the USSR.

It is a masterly televised series in which the events from 1986 are depicted in details, when the proletarians of all the countries, while enjoying the Labor Day, were stroke by the creepy news from Pripyat. Whole five days upon the accident took place.

Reactions

The reactions on the series range from exclamations and saluting that the truth on Chernobyl and the irresponsible conduct of the Soviet Union is finally revealed, to the extreme claims by Kremlin that it is US propaganda and that very soon in a Russian series the “truth” about Chernobyl will show that CIA agent is responsible for the accident.

However, the comments of the objective Russian public, that could have been found under the texts of the most eminent European and global media outlets, say that it is a very skillfully crafted, with an extreme care for the details that captured the life, décor, surrounding of then Soviet Russia, details that are signature of Craig Mazin, since he was always obsessed by details and capturing them.

Within this section of objective comments, we are incorporating the ones that the Russians do not drink that much vodka, at least not on everyday basis and on all occasions, but those are the things that are less concerning.

Irresponsible politics

What was striking for the world is the way the work was conducted in the Nuclear plant, especially during the critical night, when Chernobyl lighted the sky of Ukraine and the citizens of Pripyat and Soviet Russia were not aware of the monster that was released in front of their eyes, thus not being aware of the consequences on them and next generations. While holding the kids on the bridge, from a nearby location, enjoying the devilish beauty, the false Aurora Borealis caused by the radiation was speedily nesting into their eyes, under their skin and into their bones. And, no one, not even the plant managers, neither the politicians have broken the horrible news nor ordered evacuation, thus saving as many lives possible. Although, maybe for the need of the series over dramatized, yet, this speaks for the inadequate initial reactions of the soviet government on the biggest global threat at that moment.

A kidnapped state, а rotten system of responsibility

The rotten system of responsibility, the subordination of science to politics, the decision-making by the incompetent, the fear of the local politicians from their superiors, and especially the shame in front of the world that a tragedy of the scope of Chernobyl could happen in Soviet Russia, all of these did not allow for saving lives.

At one moment during the meeting of the local politicans and the Director of the plant – who still does not tell them the truth that there has been an explosion and each hour of delay in taking action doubles the damage and the danger for the humanity – it is even suggested to sacrifice the city and its citizens, all for the sake of keeping the information about Chernobyl secret. If one expects wisdom from the elders, in this case it is the opposite. An older local politican suggests to block the city, to cut the telephone lines and all communication with the rest of the world and to persevere, because that would be a patriotic act for mother Russia.

Even today everybody asks themselves what were the advantages that Kremlin foresaw by keeping this in secret, while not realizing that the radiation does not care for the political decision to remain within the borders of Pripyat, even if all people die for that cause.

The crisis escalates, an inhuman treatment of its own citizens

Contrary to the official Russian policy to hide or minimize the event and its consequences, only thanks to the consciousness and the self-sacrifice of several Soviet scientists and the political establishment Chernobyl did not become the worst human tragedy of the humanity and the planet Earth since the Second World War. Ready for as many human casualties as possible, Moscow reacted only after the countries from the West had detected the radiation and asked what happened. USSR, as it is remarkably showed in the series, started to care for its own citizens only after it received the news that in Germany children are not allowed to play outside.

The Russian propaganda

In June, one of the most popular Russian TV channels, NTV, announced that it plans to make its own series about Chernobyl, where the cause for the explosion will be a sabotage by a CIA agent. The Russian government financially supports the series through the Ministry of Culture.

Also announced were lawsuits from Moscow against the HBO production due to the “demonizing of the image of the Soviet government and the Soviet people”.

Could these people have been saved, and if yes, how many of them?

Inexplicably, the Soviet government kept the news in secret for two days. A total of 148 persons were at the plant at the moment the reactor exploded and immediately after it. These were the firefighters and the workers in the night shift of the plant. By the end of the summer 1986, some 15,000 people were hospitalized in Moscow hospitals with consequences from the radiation. Later, this number increased to 40,000, taking into account for Belarus, where half of the hospitalized were children.

Some 120,000 persons were evacuated from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, but some 600,000 workers were brought to work on enclosing of the reactor, while some 31,000 soldiers were situated near the reactor, where the level of radiation was 1,000 times the normal level.

This leads to the question: What are the consequences from Chernobyl?

In 2006, a UN report claimed that the number of casualties in Chernobyl was 56. However, scientists around the world are skeptical. The true number will never be known, it can only be guessed and it is in the range of 50,000-150,000 because, as the MIT professor Kate Brown says, even today Chernobyl cannot be considered to be in the past. The consequences are still being felt.