July 2009 Archives

My friend Graham, who has been to Chernobyl two times, recently posted a link to this video on Facebook. It shows BBC reporter Stefan Gates reluctantly eating some soup and drinking some moonshine prepared by samosels living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

It is often said that when traveling, you should never turn down food and drink offered by locals. In this case, these are poor people who grow their own food, are being hospitable and truly giving until it hurts. What would you do? Would you eat and drink what these samosels offered?




This second video shows Gates undergoing a full body scan that indicates he has above normal levels of radioactive contamination in his system. It seems to be a bit melodramatic:

From 1932-1933, approximately 6-8 million (perhaps even 12 million) Ukrainians perished from forced starvation. Also known as the Holodomor or Great Famine, this "forced" famine is considered by many to be a form of genocide. This catastrophe was a type of terrorism implemented as part of Josef Stalin's collectivism policies. In essence, these Soviet policies attempted to force independent farmers into collective farms.

My friend Damian Kolodiy, creator of the documentary film "The Orange Chronicles" about Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, has posted the following excerpts of recently conducted interviews with survivors of the 1932-1933 forced famine genocide in Ukraine. He hopes to eventually turn his interview footage into a new documentary.

Wow!  Chernobyl and Eastern Europe has now served up 100,000 page views. Not bad for a site that's only been online for 18 months covering a niche topic!

Thanks to all of you who have helped to make this a successful site. I truly appreciate everyone taking the time to visit Chernobyl and Eastern Europe and hope I have been able to provide you with some interesting stories and information.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions about topics you would like to see covered in the next year.

Thanks again for your support.

Mark

Vladimir Shandra, head of Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Measures, estimates construction costs for Chernobyl's New Safe Confinement structure will be approximately $1.6 billion. Final cost estimates for the project will be determined before the end of 2009.

According to Vince Novak, Director of Nuclear Safety for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Chernobyl Shelter Fund and Nuclear Safety Account combined have enough funds to carry out scheduled activities and projects at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant until 2011.

Novak did acknowledge that the ongoing global economic crisis complicates the search for donor funds to finance the projects. However, he noted that everything will be done to ensure the projects are completed successfully. Shandra indicated Ukraine plans to appropriate future funds to implement ongoing projects at the Chernobyl Plant.

It's nice that Shandra is willing to commit funds to Chernobyl projects, but Ukraine is in such a deep economic mess right now that I have no idea where he plans to find that money.

Also, it should be noted that construction of the New Safe Confinement structure is scheduled for completion in 2012. So, EBRD does not currently have enough money in the funds to finish construction of the new Shelter. If completion is delayed, at least the original Sarcophagus has been stabilized and should be able to remain standing for the foreseeable future.

Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada has scheduled the country's next presidential election for January 17, 2010. Parliament had previously scheduled the election for October 25, 2009, but President Viktor Yushchenko appealed to the Constitutional Court, which found the decision to be unconstitutional.

A recent presidential election poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology revealed the following results:

• Viktor Yanukovych (Party of Regions) - 34.7%
• Yulia Tymoshenko (Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc) - 21.5%
• Arseniy Yatseniuk (Change Front Citizens Initiative) - 17.6%

If a run-off election is required, it will most likely be held on February 7, 2010. The main question is, if a run-off is necessary, who would face off against Viktor Yanukovych? For a long time, the likely choice was Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. However, her inability to deal with Ukraine's economic crisis has significantly damaged her popularity. Meanwhile, former Rada Speaker Yatseniuk's popularity has accordingly increased.

It is unlikely that Yushchenko will gain re-election, with current popularity ratings in the low single digits and his Our Ukraine party recently withdrawing from Ukraine's ruling political coalition.

My friend Sergey has posted a new video filmed earlier this year in Pripyat. The 4 minute clip covers some well-known scenes such as the public swimming pool "Azure", and the amusement park, but also reveals some artwork or places not typically seen in photos or videos:



Sergey's Chernobyl Zone website has more detailed information about Pripyat, both then and now (this information is in English).