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	LET'S NOT FORGET CHORNOBYL
	April 26, 1986 By Lada Toptshcan Kyiv, Ukraine, April 25, 2002 Chornobyl......26 April 1986... a date the whole world should remember, and especially, we, Ukrainians............... 16 years already....a continuation of the Holodomors and purges concocted to annihilate the Ukrainian nation by the then Soviet regime who promised paradise on earth, and by today's lackeys of the same Soviet regime that still exists under the blue-and-yellow flag and the tryzub... Perhaps the explosion itself at the Chornobyl nuclear station was an accident... but everything else that ensued was no accident... no accident at all...it was intentional criminal negligence... no, not only negligence...... ... but outright criminal acts and decisions aimed at covering the mess, at dissimulating the truth, at lying to the whole world in order to remain in power....the withholding of critical information.........the forced and indiscriminate dispatching to the scene of the disaster of youth, artists, men and women of reproductive age ... prohibiting parents and their children to protect themselves by leaving for safer places, cities.......... punishing and ostracizing those who dared to raise the safety question and to act upon it... and a lot more...a lot, lot more... these were no accidents... no accidents at all... let's realize it... no accidents at all ! BUT CRIMINAL ACTS AGAINST THE UKRAINIAN NATION ! "Chornobyl" Folk Art Painting By Ivan Novobranets' Poltava, Ukraine Oil on Canvas Chornobyl means: 16 years of despair for the victims; 16 years of passivity on the part of the government of Ukraina (5 years under the Soviet regime, 11 years under the so-called Independence); 16 years during which those responsible were not tried because they are still in power; 16 years of turmoil in the life of those who have not been resettled from the danger zone; 16 years of painful tears shed by uprooted survivors who see how cemeteries grow in size and numbers; 16 years of pilfering, official lies, deceptions, indifference to the plight of the Ukrainian nation once more rocked by horrors of unexplainable magnitude and consequences; 16 years of criminal passivity on the part of the government of Ukraina in taking the necessary measures to protect its citizens from the consequences of living in a radioactive environment; 16 years of misusing of public funds earmarked to alleviate the plight of the population; In 2002 ... 16 years later ...Ukrainians are still without proper medical care... without hope for a healthy life... without a national program of enriched food supply ... without a popular education program on how to fight with radioactivity, etc.... History is being erased even on maps, which are being printed without mentioning the hundreds of towns and villages that existed before ... not even a special note or color........... nothing......as if they never existed... Polissia, the territory of Ukraina where our most ancient history began and most ancient customs and beliefs were still preserved is being erased...eased...erased... from our minds and consciousness... 26 April 2002 - another day ... powerless feelings in people's hearts ... day filled with words and media reports ... filled with irony... cynicism... for many of those in power, it is another day to put behind as fast as possible ... but for all of us in Ukraina and Belarus... a day to realize the true meaning and role of Moscow - then and today. For those of us who have strength of character, who are at least minimally conscious of what it means to be Ukrainian, let's actively remember Chornobyl.....at least on this one sad day of the year....... Let's make 26 April a day of mourning; Let's bring down flags to half mast; Let's wear black clothes, no jewelry, no perfumes; Let's not smoke nor drink alcoholic beverages; Let's not participate in any rejoicing event; Let's for one day imagine that we are in a big funeral parlor and act accordingly... Let's also not forget about our brothers and sisters in Belarus................ The painting by Viktor Nakonechnyi. Published on a greeting card by Marka Ukrayiny. 380 44 229 9256 Lada Toptschan Kyiv, Ukraine Article Published by ArtUkraine.com with Permission FOR PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC USE ONLY

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