Thirty years of the Chernobyl disaster. Memories of Fire Heroes
April 26 marks thirty years of a scary date for our country and other former Soviet republics - the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The consequences of this tragedy the world remembers and “reaps” until now. More than 30 thousands of people were evicted from the 115-kilometer exclusion zone around the nuclear power plant. In December 2003, the United Nations General Assembly decided to declare 26 April as the International Day for the Remembrance of Victims of Radiation Accidents and Disasters. Today, on the day of commemoration of the events at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, first of all, I would like to tell you about the people who were the first to fight a terrible and previously unknown disaster - a fire at a nuclear reactor. We are talking about firefighters who are no longer alive. All of them received enormous doses of radiation and died, giving their lives so that others could live.
On that terrible night from 25 on 26 on April 1986, 176 people worked in four blocks of the nuclear power plant. These were duty staff and maintenance workers. In addition, 286 builders were on two blocks under construction - construction proceeded at an accelerated pace and it needed to be completed as early as possible, so the workers worked during the night shifts. In the 1 hour of the 24 minute two powerful explosions were heard in the fourth power unit. The emerging ozone glow clearly testified to the colossal radiation emitted from the reactor. As a result of the explosion, the reactor building collapsed. Two people died. The main circulating pump operator Valery Hodemchuk was never found, his body was inundated with fragments of two 130-ton drum separators. Vladimir Shashenyok, an employee of a commissioning enterprise, died of a spinal fracture and body burns at 6.00 in the Pripyatsk medical unit.
Already in 1 an hour of 28 minutes to the scene of the accident - the fourth unit of the nuclear power plant - the duty guard of the militarized fire unit No. 2, guarding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, arrived. The crew of the crew included 14 firemen, commanded by the guard of the guard, lieutenant of internal service Vladimir Pavlovich Pravik (1962-1986). Nachkar was a very young man 23 years old. In 1986, he should have turned 24 of the year. Life was just beginning, Lieutenant Pravik had a young wife and daughter. Four years before the disaster, in 1982, he completed his studies at the Cherkassy Fire and Technical School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and was released as a lieutenant of internal service. Pravik was appointed head of the guard at the paramilitary fire department No. 2 of the Internal Affairs Department of the Kiev Regional Executive Committee, which specialized in fire protection at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Under the command of Pravik, the firefighters of HPV-2 began to extinguish the roof of the engine room. However, the 2 th HPV guard force was clearly not enough to fight the fire. Therefore, already at 1 an hour of 35 minutes, personnel and equipment of the HRPC-6 guard from Pripyat - 10 firefighters commanded by lieutenant of internal service Viktor Nikolaevich Kibenko (1963-1986) arrived at the scene of the incident. Like Vladimir Pravik, Viktor Kibenok was a very young officer. 23-year-old lieutenant of internal service only in 1984 graduated from the same as Pravik Cherkassy Fire and Technical School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, after which he was assigned to the guard of the 6 paramilitary paramilitary fire department of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Kiev Regional Executive Committee, engaged in fire protection in the city Pripyat.
By the way, Kibenok was a hereditary firefighter - his grandfather and father also served in the fire department, his father had state awards for the courage shown in extinguishing fires. Victor inherited the courage of his older relatives. People Kibenko started to fight the fire on the roof, climbing the outdoor fire escape stairs.
At 1 an hour of 40 minutes, the chief of the militarized fire unit No. 2, who was guarding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the major of the internal service Leonid P. Telyatnikov (1951-2004), arrived at the scene of the incident. Unlike Kibenko and Pravik, Telyatnikov was not a native of Ukraine. He was born in Kazakhstan, in the Kustanai region, and therefore entered 1968 in the Sverdlovsk Fire and Technical School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, which he graduated with honors. Then he graduated from the Higher Engineering Fire Engineering School in Moscow, for some time he worked in the Kustanai fire brigade. In 1982, the city of Telyatnikov was transferred to the Kiev region of the Ukrainian SSR, where he began serving in the fire department guarding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In 1983, he was appointed head of the paramilitary fire unit number 2 for the protection of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. When the accident occurred, Telyatnikov was on vacation, but in a few minutes he got ready and rushed to the crash site. Under his personal leadership, reconnaissance and fire fighting were organized.
Despite the fact that the firefighters did not have dosimeters, they were well aware that they were working in a zone of high radioactive radiation. But for officers and firefighters, HPV-2 and UHFS-6 had no other choice, because they considered it their duty and honor to join the battle with the consequences of a terrible explosion. Fire extinguishing continued until 6 hours 35 minutes. In five hours of fighting with a terrible fire, the guard of firefighters eliminated the main fires in the area around 300 square meters. The fire brigade leadership that arrived at the scene of the accident was well aware that the fire brigade, the first to fight the fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, was practically suicide bombers. They received extremely high doses of radiation and needed prompt medical assistance, although she could hardly help them. Already in the morning of April 26, the fire brigade calculations and their officers were sent to Moscow for treatment. Among the sent for treatment were Telyatnikov, Pravik, Kibenok, other firefighters HRHR-2 and HRHR-6.
- a monument to firefighters - liquidators of the Chernobyl accident
10 May 1986 in a hospital in Moscow died sergeant of internal service Vladimir Ivanovich Tishura (1959-1986), who served as a senior fireman in the HRPC-6 in Pripyat. Lieutenant Vladimir Pavlovich Pravik, who received an extremely high dose of radiation, was sent to the 6 Hospital of Moscow. Two weeks after the disaster, 11 May 1986, he passed away. Pravik, the lieutenant of the internal service, was just 23 of the year, he was left with the young wife Nadezhda and daughter Natalia. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 25 September 1986, for courage, heroism and selfless actions shown in the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, lieutenant of internal service Pravik Vladimir Pavlovich was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).
On the same day, 11, May 1986, in the 6 hospital of Moscow, Viktor Nikolaevich Kibenok died. To twenty-three-year-old lieutenant of internal service, Kibenk, who received an extremely high dose of radiation, 25 September 1986, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from September 25, courage, heroism and selfless actions shown during the liquidation of the Chernobyl NPP accident were posthumously granted the title. Lieutenant Kibenko left young wife Tatyana.
Two days later, on May 13, 1986, the senior internal service sergeant Vasily Ivanovich Ignatenko (2-1961) also died in the hospital department. The 25-year-old firefighter was a master of sports of the USSR. He took the most direct part in extinguishing the fire. Vasily Ignatenko’s pregnant wife Lyudmila did not leave her husband in the hospital and, after receiving a dose of radiation, lost her child. Vasily Ignatenko was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In 1986, he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine. 2006 May 14 died in the hospital internal service sergeant Nikolai Vasilievich Vashchuk (1986-1959), who served as commander of the guard section of the 1986 CHRP guard for the protection of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. 2 May 16, died Senior Internal Affairs Sergeant Nikolai Ivanovich Titenok (1986-1962) - firefighter UHFS-1986, Pripyat. He left his wife Tatiana and son Serezha.
The internal service major Leonid Petrovich Telyatnikov was more fortunate than his colleagues. He also received a high dose of radiation, but was able to survive. The boxer, the winner of the Sverdlovsk Fire and Technical School championship, Telyatnikov was a very physically strong man. Maybe it saved him. Like Kibenok, and Pravik, Major Telyatnikov was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After treatment in Moscow, he moved back to the USSR - to Kiev, continued service in the Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. Perhaps it was Major Telyatnikov, who led the extinguishing of the fire on the roof of the fourth block, became the most famous "Chernobyl" not only of the Soviet, but also of international scale. Major Leonid Telyatnikova was even received at her residence by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The British Union of Firefighters presented Leonid Petrovich with the medal “For Courage in Fire”. It Telyatnikov almost became the official representative of the firefighters who put out the fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, representing them at international and domestic events.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Leonid Telyatnikov served in the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and in 1995 he retired as a major general in the internal service, affected by the health of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Leonid Petrovich suffered from acute radiation sickness, he was operated on in the jaw, the face of the hero of Chernobyl was destroyed by the papilloma. In 1998, Telyatnikov headed the Voluntary Fire Association of Kiev. Leonid Petrovich died on December 2 2004 from cancer. Leonid Petrovich left his wife Larisa Ivanovna. One of Leonid Petrovich’s two sons, Oleg, followed in his father’s footsteps, having graduated from a fire school. The other, Mikhail, became a lawyer.
All in all, 85 firefighters who took part in extinguishing, near 50, firefighters were exposed to high levels of radiation and were hospitalized. Of course, the consequences of the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident subsequently affected the health and longevity of even those firefighters who were lucky enough to survive in the first months and years after the disaster.
- Major General Maksimchuk
Speaking about the liquidators of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, one cannot but mention the well-known figure of the national fire brigade - Major General Vladimir Mikhailovich Maksimchuk of the internal service. In the spring of 1986, Mr. Maksimchuk, then a lieutenant colonel of the internal service, served as head of the operational-tactical department of the Main Fire Department of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was included in the Government Commission for the Elimination of the Consequences of the Catastrophe and in early May 1986 was sent to Chernobyl to supervise the elimination of the consequences of the disaster. On the night of 22 on 23 of May 1986, a terrible fire started in the premises of the main circulation pumps of the third and fourth unit. As a result of the fire could have happened a terrible disaster, compared to which the events of April 26 would have seemed to be flowers! And it was to the share of Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Maksimchuk that the direct leadership of extinguishing this terrible fire fell. Firefighting continued for 12 hours. When it came to an end, Lieutenant Colonel Maksimchuk, who had received a radiation wound on his leg, could hardly stand. With radiation burns of his lower leg and respiratory tract, he was carried on a stretcher to a car and taken to Kiev Hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Fortunately, Vladimir Mikhailovich was able to survive. He even continued his service; in 1990, he was promoted to major general in the internal service, and worked as the first deputy head of the USSR Main Fire Department. The last place of his service was the position of head of the Moscow Fire Department, where he also did a lot to put out fires in the Russian capital. But the disease made itself felt. Eight years after the Chernobyl disaster, 22 in May 1994, General Maksimchuk died.
The elimination of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has taken many years. We can assume that it is not actually finished to this day. Three weeks after the accident, 16 on May 1986, at a meeting of the government commission, a decision was made on the long-term preservation of the unit destroyed by the explosions. Four days later, the USSR Ministry of Medium Machine Building issued an order “On the organization of the construction management at the Chernobyl NPP”. In accordance with this order, work was begun on the construction of a shelter. Around 90, thousands of builders — engineers, technicians, workers — were involved in grand construction, which lasted from June to November of the year 1986. November 30 The 1986 of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl NPP was accepted for maintenance. However, despite the construction of a shelter, radiation contaminated the vast territories of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. In Ukraine, 41,75 thousand square kilometers were contaminated, 46,6 thousand square kilometers in Belarus, and 57,1 thousand square kilometers in Russia. The territories of the Bryansk, Kaluga, Tula and Oryol regions were the most polluted in Russia.
Work on the removal of power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant from operation continues, according to open sources in the media, up to the present. The Shelter, erected in 1986, should be replaced by a new safe confinement - a multifunctional complex, whose main task is to turn the Shelter into an environmentally safe system. A complete decommissioning of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is planned for the 2065 year. However, in view of the destabilization of the political situation in Ukraine as a result of Euromaidan, there are certain doubts that this work can be completed, especially in the political and economic conditions in which the Ukrainian state is today.
On that terrible night from 25 on 26 on April 1986, 176 people worked in four blocks of the nuclear power plant. These were duty staff and maintenance workers. In addition, 286 builders were on two blocks under construction - construction proceeded at an accelerated pace and it needed to be completed as early as possible, so the workers worked during the night shifts. In the 1 hour of the 24 minute two powerful explosions were heard in the fourth power unit. The emerging ozone glow clearly testified to the colossal radiation emitted from the reactor. As a result of the explosion, the reactor building collapsed. Two people died. The main circulating pump operator Valery Hodemchuk was never found, his body was inundated with fragments of two 130-ton drum separators. Vladimir Shashenyok, an employee of a commissioning enterprise, died of a spinal fracture and body burns at 6.00 in the Pripyatsk medical unit.
Already in 1 an hour of 28 minutes to the scene of the accident - the fourth unit of the nuclear power plant - the duty guard of the militarized fire unit No. 2, guarding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, arrived. The crew of the crew included 14 firemen, commanded by the guard of the guard, lieutenant of internal service Vladimir Pavlovich Pravik (1962-1986). Nachkar was a very young man 23 years old. In 1986, he should have turned 24 of the year. Life was just beginning, Lieutenant Pravik had a young wife and daughter. Four years before the disaster, in 1982, he completed his studies at the Cherkassy Fire and Technical School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and was released as a lieutenant of internal service. Pravik was appointed head of the guard at the paramilitary fire department No. 2 of the Internal Affairs Department of the Kiev Regional Executive Committee, which specialized in fire protection at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Under the command of Pravik, the firefighters of HPV-2 began to extinguish the roof of the engine room. However, the 2 th HPV guard force was clearly not enough to fight the fire. Therefore, already at 1 an hour of 35 minutes, personnel and equipment of the HRPC-6 guard from Pripyat - 10 firefighters commanded by lieutenant of internal service Viktor Nikolaevich Kibenko (1963-1986) arrived at the scene of the incident. Like Vladimir Pravik, Viktor Kibenok was a very young officer. 23-year-old lieutenant of internal service only in 1984 graduated from the same as Pravik Cherkassy Fire and Technical School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, after which he was assigned to the guard of the 6 paramilitary paramilitary fire department of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Kiev Regional Executive Committee, engaged in fire protection in the city Pripyat.
By the way, Kibenok was a hereditary firefighter - his grandfather and father also served in the fire department, his father had state awards for the courage shown in extinguishing fires. Victor inherited the courage of his older relatives. People Kibenko started to fight the fire on the roof, climbing the outdoor fire escape stairs. At 1 an hour of 40 minutes, the chief of the militarized fire unit No. 2, who was guarding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the major of the internal service Leonid P. Telyatnikov (1951-2004), arrived at the scene of the incident. Unlike Kibenko and Pravik, Telyatnikov was not a native of Ukraine. He was born in Kazakhstan, in the Kustanai region, and therefore entered 1968 in the Sverdlovsk Fire and Technical School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, which he graduated with honors. Then he graduated from the Higher Engineering Fire Engineering School in Moscow, for some time he worked in the Kustanai fire brigade. In 1982, the city of Telyatnikov was transferred to the Kiev region of the Ukrainian SSR, where he began serving in the fire department guarding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In 1983, he was appointed head of the paramilitary fire unit number 2 for the protection of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. When the accident occurred, Telyatnikov was on vacation, but in a few minutes he got ready and rushed to the crash site. Under his personal leadership, reconnaissance and fire fighting were organized.
Despite the fact that the firefighters did not have dosimeters, they were well aware that they were working in a zone of high radioactive radiation. But for officers and firefighters, HPV-2 and UHFS-6 had no other choice, because they considered it their duty and honor to join the battle with the consequences of a terrible explosion. Fire extinguishing continued until 6 hours 35 minutes. In five hours of fighting with a terrible fire, the guard of firefighters eliminated the main fires in the area around 300 square meters. The fire brigade leadership that arrived at the scene of the accident was well aware that the fire brigade, the first to fight the fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, was practically suicide bombers. They received extremely high doses of radiation and needed prompt medical assistance, although she could hardly help them. Already in the morning of April 26, the fire brigade calculations and their officers were sent to Moscow for treatment. Among the sent for treatment were Telyatnikov, Pravik, Kibenok, other firefighters HRHR-2 and HRHR-6.
10 May 1986 in a hospital in Moscow died sergeant of internal service Vladimir Ivanovich Tishura (1959-1986), who served as a senior fireman in the HRPC-6 in Pripyat. Lieutenant Vladimir Pavlovich Pravik, who received an extremely high dose of radiation, was sent to the 6 Hospital of Moscow. Two weeks after the disaster, 11 May 1986, he passed away. Pravik, the lieutenant of the internal service, was just 23 of the year, he was left with the young wife Nadezhda and daughter Natalia. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 25 September 1986, for courage, heroism and selfless actions shown in the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, lieutenant of internal service Pravik Vladimir Pavlovich was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).
On the same day, 11, May 1986, in the 6 hospital of Moscow, Viktor Nikolaevich Kibenok died. To twenty-three-year-old lieutenant of internal service, Kibenk, who received an extremely high dose of radiation, 25 September 1986, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from September 25, courage, heroism and selfless actions shown during the liquidation of the Chernobyl NPP accident were posthumously granted the title. Lieutenant Kibenko left young wife Tatyana.
Two days later, on May 13, 1986, the senior internal service sergeant Vasily Ivanovich Ignatenko (2-1961) also died in the hospital department. The 25-year-old firefighter was a master of sports of the USSR. He took the most direct part in extinguishing the fire. Vasily Ignatenko’s pregnant wife Lyudmila did not leave her husband in the hospital and, after receiving a dose of radiation, lost her child. Vasily Ignatenko was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In 1986, he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine. 2006 May 14 died in the hospital internal service sergeant Nikolai Vasilievich Vashchuk (1986-1959), who served as commander of the guard section of the 1986 CHRP guard for the protection of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. 2 May 16, died Senior Internal Affairs Sergeant Nikolai Ivanovich Titenok (1986-1962) - firefighter UHFS-1986, Pripyat. He left his wife Tatiana and son Serezha.
The internal service major Leonid Petrovich Telyatnikov was more fortunate than his colleagues. He also received a high dose of radiation, but was able to survive. The boxer, the winner of the Sverdlovsk Fire and Technical School championship, Telyatnikov was a very physically strong man. Maybe it saved him. Like Kibenok, and Pravik, Major Telyatnikov was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After treatment in Moscow, he moved back to the USSR - to Kiev, continued service in the Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. Perhaps it was Major Telyatnikov, who led the extinguishing of the fire on the roof of the fourth block, became the most famous "Chernobyl" not only of the Soviet, but also of international scale. Major Leonid Telyatnikova was even received at her residence by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The British Union of Firefighters presented Leonid Petrovich with the medal “For Courage in Fire”. It Telyatnikov almost became the official representative of the firefighters who put out the fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, representing them at international and domestic events. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Leonid Telyatnikov served in the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and in 1995 he retired as a major general in the internal service, affected by the health of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Leonid Petrovich suffered from acute radiation sickness, he was operated on in the jaw, the face of the hero of Chernobyl was destroyed by the papilloma. In 1998, Telyatnikov headed the Voluntary Fire Association of Kiev. Leonid Petrovich died on December 2 2004 from cancer. Leonid Petrovich left his wife Larisa Ivanovna. One of Leonid Petrovich’s two sons, Oleg, followed in his father’s footsteps, having graduated from a fire school. The other, Mikhail, became a lawyer.
All in all, 85 firefighters who took part in extinguishing, near 50, firefighters were exposed to high levels of radiation and were hospitalized. Of course, the consequences of the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident subsequently affected the health and longevity of even those firefighters who were lucky enough to survive in the first months and years after the disaster.
Speaking about the liquidators of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, one cannot but mention the well-known figure of the national fire brigade - Major General Vladimir Mikhailovich Maksimchuk of the internal service. In the spring of 1986, Mr. Maksimchuk, then a lieutenant colonel of the internal service, served as head of the operational-tactical department of the Main Fire Department of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was included in the Government Commission for the Elimination of the Consequences of the Catastrophe and in early May 1986 was sent to Chernobyl to supervise the elimination of the consequences of the disaster. On the night of 22 on 23 of May 1986, a terrible fire started in the premises of the main circulation pumps of the third and fourth unit. As a result of the fire could have happened a terrible disaster, compared to which the events of April 26 would have seemed to be flowers! And it was to the share of Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Maksimchuk that the direct leadership of extinguishing this terrible fire fell. Firefighting continued for 12 hours. When it came to an end, Lieutenant Colonel Maksimchuk, who had received a radiation wound on his leg, could hardly stand. With radiation burns of his lower leg and respiratory tract, he was carried on a stretcher to a car and taken to Kiev Hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Fortunately, Vladimir Mikhailovich was able to survive. He even continued his service; in 1990, he was promoted to major general in the internal service, and worked as the first deputy head of the USSR Main Fire Department. The last place of his service was the position of head of the Moscow Fire Department, where he also did a lot to put out fires in the Russian capital. But the disease made itself felt. Eight years after the Chernobyl disaster, 22 in May 1994, General Maksimchuk died.
The elimination of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has taken many years. We can assume that it is not actually finished to this day. Three weeks after the accident, 16 on May 1986, at a meeting of the government commission, a decision was made on the long-term preservation of the unit destroyed by the explosions. Four days later, the USSR Ministry of Medium Machine Building issued an order “On the organization of the construction management at the Chernobyl NPP”. In accordance with this order, work was begun on the construction of a shelter. Around 90, thousands of builders — engineers, technicians, workers — were involved in grand construction, which lasted from June to November of the year 1986. November 30 The 1986 of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl NPP was accepted for maintenance. However, despite the construction of a shelter, radiation contaminated the vast territories of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. In Ukraine, 41,75 thousand square kilometers were contaminated, 46,6 thousand square kilometers in Belarus, and 57,1 thousand square kilometers in Russia. The territories of the Bryansk, Kaluga, Tula and Oryol regions were the most polluted in Russia.
Work on the removal of power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant from operation continues, according to open sources in the media, up to the present. The Shelter, erected in 1986, should be replaced by a new safe confinement - a multifunctional complex, whose main task is to turn the Shelter into an environmentally safe system. A complete decommissioning of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is planned for the 2065 year. However, in view of the destabilization of the political situation in Ukraine as a result of Euromaidan, there are certain doubts that this work can be completed, especially in the political and economic conditions in which the Ukrainian state is today.
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