Grupa likvidatora iz Poltavske oblasti vratila se u Černobil pred 40. godišnjicu kako bi obnovila uspomene i suočila se sa posledicama izlaganja radijaciji. Više od 600.000 ljudi učestvovalo je u čišćenju bez adekvatne zaštite, što je dovelo do trajnih zdravstvenih problema. Povratnici opisuju mešavinu tuge, ponosa i zahvalnosti, često praveći paralelu između tadašnjeg "nevidljivog neprijatelja" i današnjeg otvorenog rata u Ukrajini.
Likvidatori se vraćaju u Černobil: 40 godina posle susreta sa nevidljivim neprijateljem
Workers who helped clean up contamination from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster hold flowers before placing them on a monument to their fallen comrades near the plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
ČERNOBIL, Ukrajina — Grupa bivših likvidatora iz Poltavske oblasti vratila se u Černobil na jednodnevnu posetu povodom 40. godišnjice katastrofe iz 1986. godine, da obnovi uspomene i suoči se s posledicama koje ih prate decenijama.
Sećanja, dužnost i posledice
Posle eksplozije i požara 26. aprila 1986. godine, hiljade vojnika, vatrogasaca, inženjera, rudara i medicinskog osoblja poslato je da sanira posledice — oni su bili poznati kao "likvidatori". Tokom naredne četiri godine oko 600.000 ljudi radilo je na čišćenju mesta nesreće: helikopteri su bacali pesak i druge materijale na izloženi reaktor, radnici su prali zgrade i puteve, sahranjivali zatrovanu opremu, čistili šume i uklanjali životinje kako bi usporili širenje radijacije.
Mnogi koji su poslati na posao imali su malo ili nikakvo znanje o stvarnim rizicima i često nisu imali adekvatnu zaštitu ili dekontaminacione procedure.
Iskustva povratnika
Prylipko je stigao devet dana posle eksplozije i mesec dana vozio vatrogasni kamion u dvosaatnim smenama da bi ograničio izloženost. Prvi povratak nakon raspoređivanja doveo ga je do dezorijentacije: sela su izbrisana, a reaktor zapečaćen zaštitnim konstrukcijama.
„Tada je celo područje bilo preplavljeno: mašinerija, helikopteri, svuda su bili. Put ka Kijevu bio je toliko zakrčen da nisi mogao nikoga da mimoiđe.“
Anatolii Krutik je leto 1986. provodio ograđujući zagađene teritorije i uspostavljajući zone isključenja, prvo u Belorusiji, pa u okolini reaktora. Kako kaže, tada je malo ko osećao strah — radilo se iz dužnosti, bez pune svesti o opasnosti.
Vechirko i drugi su skidali površinski sloj zemlje i čistili zgrade; mnogi su kasnije razvili trajne zdravstvene probleme poput vrtoglavice, slabosti i bolova, što pripisuju radu na mestu nesreće.
„Vraćanje ovde sada budi preplavljujuće emocije. Neverovatno je tužno uporediti kakvo je mesto nekada bilo i šta je danas.“
Zdravlje, sećanje i nacionalni kontekst
Medicinski oficir Harbyz priseća se kolega koji su preminuli i jake povezanosti preživelih. Vatrogasac Mykola Chudak ističe žrtvu prvih intervenišućih koji su često dali živote da spreče još veću katastrofu — zbog čega smatra da Ukrajina treba da se seća tih heroja.
Lebedynets je, prolazeći kroz Pripjat, osetio tugu zbog napuštenog grada koji je nekada vrveo životom. Mnogi povratnici prave paralelu između „nevidljivog neprijatelja“ radijacije i današnjeg otvorenog rata u Ukrajini: kao različiti oblici pretnje, ali oba ostavljaju duboke posledice.
Neki likvidatori i danas se leče u veteranskim ustanovama i bore se za priznanje i podršku. Povratak u Černobil za mnoge je kombinacija tuge, ponosa i zahvalnosti — sećanje na dužnost koja je promenila njihove živote i, kako neki tvrde, oblikovala i sudbinu nezavisne Ukrajine.
Napomena o formatu
Ovo je dokumentarna foto-priča složena od strane AP foto-urednika. Volodymyr Yurchuk, Hanna Arhirova i Derek Gatopoulos iz Kijeva doprineli su izveštaju.
A worker who was sent to clean up the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, rides in a bus during a visit to the facility, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Chernobyl Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Workers who helped clean up contamination from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident place flowers at a monument at the facility in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Anatolii Prylipko, 66, who drove a fire truck near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the 1986 accident, poses for a portrait near the plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Paintings of deer decorate a wall in the abandoned town of Prypiat, Ukraine, near the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Anatolii Krutik, 63, who helped clean up contamination from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, poses for a portrait Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in front of the plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Volodymyr Vechirko, 62, one of the workers who helped decontaminate the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the 1986 accident, rides in a bus with fellow workers for a visit to the region ahead of the 40th anniversary of the disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Volodymyr Vechirko, 62, one of the workers who helped decontaminate the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the 1986 accident, poses for a portrait in the nearby abandoned town of Prypiat, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A man measures radiation near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Oleksii Harbyz, 72, part of a unit sent to clean up contamination from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, poses for a portrait near the facility in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Workers sent to clean up contamination from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident walk in the nearby abandoned town of Prypiat, Ukraine, during a return visit to the region, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Mykola Chudak, 66, poses for a portrait at a fire department where he served for six months in 1986-87 working within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Workers sent to help clean up the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, place flowers at a monument in front of the facility, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Oleksii Lebedynets, 65, who as a member of the military was sent to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the 1986 accident, poses for a portrait near the facility in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Stanislav Tolumnyi, 65, left, and Mykola Chudak, 66, walk with fellow workers who helped clean up contamination from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, in the nearby abandoned town of Prypiat, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, ahead of the 40th anniversary of the accident. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Stanislav Tolumnyi, 65, a firefighter who worked to decontaminate areas near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the 1986 accident, poses for a portrait, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, at a fire department where he served from 1987 to 1988. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Workers who were sent to clean up contamination from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, pass through a radiation inspection point, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at the plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Serhii Buriak, 60, who helped guard abandoned buildings after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, poses for a portrait near the plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Volodymyr Vechirko, 62, one of the workers sent to clean up contamination from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, pours vodka during lunch near the plant, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. In Chernobyl, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Anatolii Taranenko, 62, one of the workers sent to help clean up contamination from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, poses for a portrait near the facility in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Bumper cars sit idle at an overgrown amusement park in Pripyat, Ukraine, a town left abandoned following the nearby 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Viktor Hluhovtsov, 66, one of the workers sent to help clean up contamination from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, poses for a portrait near the plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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