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By Anna Melnichuk, Associated Press Writer
AP, Kiev, Ukraine, April 26, 2004
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KIEV, Ukraine -- Mourners laid flowers and lit candles in gatherings across
the former Soviet Union Monday to mark the 18th anniversary of the Chernobyl
nuclear disaster, which spread radiation over much of northern Europe.
In all, 7 million people in the former Soviet republics of Belarus, Russia
and Ukraine are believed to have suffered physical or psychological injuries
from the April 26, 1986, catastrophe, when reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl
nuclear plant exploded and caught fire.
An area roughly half the size of Colorado was contaminated by the accident,
forcing the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of people and ruining some
of Europe's most fertile farmland.
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Alehandra Lihova, sister of a worker who died following the clean-up
operations for the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear explosion, wipes tears away at the
wreath laying ceremony at the Chernobyl's victim monument in Ukraine's
capital Kiev, Monday, April 26, 2004. A tomb stela depicting the sarcophagus
is on the right
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
(Click on image to enlarge it)
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In the capital Kiev, some 80 miles south of the Chernobyl plant, hundreds of
Ukrainians on Monday filled the small chapel dedicated to the disaster's
victims at 1:23 a.m. local time, the exact time of the explosion.
Later, they laid flowers and lit candles at a small hill where marble
plaques inscribed with the names of hundreds of victims are laid.
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And nearly 1,000 mourners gathered in the afternoon at Kiev's Chernobyl
memorial, a soaring statue of five falling metallic swans. Some placed
flowers and photos of deceased relatives at its base.
"Nothing can be compared with a mother's sorrow," said Praskoviya Nezhyvova,
an elderly retiree clutching a black-framed photograph of her son, Viktor.
She said he died of Chernobyl-related stomach cancer in 1990 at age 44.
Volodymyr Diunych, a driver who took members of the hastily recruited and
inadequately equipped cleanup crews to the site, recalled watching as
residents were evacuated "in an awful rush" days after the disaster.
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Widows of those who died as a result of the Chernobyl catastrophe cry as
they hold portraits of their husbands during a service and memorial ceremony
devoted to the 18th anniversary of the tragedy in front of the Chernobyl
Memorial in Kiev
AFP/Sergei Supinsky
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Ukraine shuttered Chernobyl's last working reactor in December 2000.
But Ukrainian experts say that the concrete-and-steel shelter hastily
constructed over the damaged reactor following the accident needs urgent
repairs. Authorities say the reactor site is safe.
As of early 2004, more than 2.3 million people, including 452,000 children,
had been hospitalized in Ukraine with illnesses blamed on the disaster,
according to Ukraine's Health Ministry. Ukraine has registered some 4,400
deaths in connection with the accident.
Many of those injured in the explosion or displaced by its fallout complain
the government is doing little to help them.
Sergei Shchvetsov, the head of Russia's Chernobyl Union, was quoted as
saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency that 40,000 people disabled by the clean
up operations after the blast live in Russia and the "volume of benefits to
which (they) are eligible is narrowing every year."
In Minsk, the capital of Belarus, about 1,000 people held an unauthorized
rally to mark the anniversary and protest what they said was the
government's weakening of programs to help Chernobyl victims.
"We're beginning to die like flies and the state's not reacting," said
Georgy Lepin, who said he was part of the cleanup crew.
The government is allowing vegetables from the most-contaminated region of
Belarus to be sold in the less-affected areas, alleged Ivan Nikitchenko, a
member of the Belarus Academy of Sciences.
The most frequently noted Chernobyl-related diseases include thyroid and
blood cancer and cancerous growths. There have also been numerous reports of
mental disorders resulting from the disaster.
The United Nations said in a statement that in some areas of Belarus,
thyroid cancer among children has increased more than 100-fold since the
accident.
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A relative of a Chernobyl victim carries red carnations to lay at the
monument to those who died as a result of Chernobyl explosion after effects.
Black-framed photos of Chernobyl victims are seen at the monument's base,
as well as a metal structure with the words 'To victims of Chernobyl
tragedy'
at bottom left
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
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A relative of a worker who died after battling the blaze and entombing the
smoldering Chernobyl power plant in 1986, mourns at the memorial to
Chernobyl victims in Kiev, April 26, 2004
REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
(Click on image to enlarge it)
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Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma (L) and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich
take part in a ceremony to lay flowers at the monument to Chernobyl
catastrophe victims in Kiev, April 26, 2004
REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
(Click on image to enlarge it)
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Relatives of Chernobyl victims lay flowers at the monument to those who died
as a result of Chernobyl explosion after effects. Big black granite slabs are engraved with the names
of hundreds of victims
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
(Click on image to enlarge it)
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