Question : "What could you buy for 800 Rubles in the Soviet Union in 1986" To answer this you have to understand that the Soviet Union did not have an international currency. No money market, no foreign investment, most foreign money went into the black market, as everything was planned to keep prices low. The minimum guaranteed income was 70 rubles a month, figuring that renting a room cost 1 ruble a day at most boarding houses leaving you 10 rubles a week for food. There was no unemployment in the soviet union and it was literally illegal to be homeless. No really, work and keep a house, or go to prison for 5 to 15 years on either a communal farm, or a building project. More than half the people in the soviet union (56%) made about 200 Rubles a month Which was considered adequate for someone who was a single parent raising a child, or a single person caring for the elderly or disabled. Having children and taking care of the elderly was encouraged as you could bargain for higher wages. The top 1% the Politburo, the top lawmakers and politicians made about 300 to 400 Rubles a month. So 800 Rubles in 1986 in the soviet union, would be equivalent to an American getting 2 months of a US Congressperson's salary.
The above is correct, but if anyone is interested in the direct conversion based off of the gold standard on which the Soviet Ruble was still on, it would be $1040 in 1986 dollars, which would be $2,424.91 today
My grandpa was a colonel at financial crimes bureau (ОБХСС) and he was paid 600 rubles per month; that's pretty close to maximum possible salary in USSR. 800 is quite a lot, still not worth to take that risks, but it has to be done and I highly doubt any of these guys did that for money.
The animals were radioactive so they probably would've die terrible death anyway. But they were also very dangerous for people because they could go outside the zone . And nobody could know that that animal from the zone and adopt it :( So they did not have much choice: (
You have to realise, about her situation, she wasnt told WHAT exactly was dangerous. Radiation wasnt remotely as well known as it is today. All she knew was that something was dangerous to her if she stayed in there too long. Something she doesnt understand, feel, see, taste or hear. And at the same time she is watching the person she loves most in her life literally rot to death. She was irrational and irresponsible, but by god is it understandable.
The men who cleaned the final roof. That 90 seconds was all the radiation that they could be exposed to. Lifetime... no xrays avoid microwaves, that’s it. And even then their lives were fantastically shortened. 90 seconds.
Microwaves, like radiowaves and light, are not ionizing radiation and they have nothing to do with this. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't talk about it.
i haven't been able to find numbers but supposedly many of the 3828 are still alive, but many of them are dealing with long term effects and health issues caused by the radiation they were exposed to.
I think she was willing to risk her life to be with her husband until he died. It never occurred to her that her baby would be the one to pay the price. That's how I see it. So at the end there she's dealing with her grief over losing her husband and baby, plus the guilt of exposing their baby to the radiation. There was a Russian sub accident in 2000, they refused to ask for or accept help until it was too late to save anyone. So that kind of pride that costs lives is an ongoing thing with them.
Yes. The Russian sub was the Kursk. I remember when that happened. Folks should look up the Kursk Disaster. There are videos about it, and of Putin's press conference where a grieving mother who angrily shouted at Putin was clearly sedated by those who wanted her to shut up. I remember hearing about Chernobyl when the news got out. I was a kid when we were taught to hide under our school desks in the event of a nuclear bomb attack. We know now how useless that would have been. I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Missiles of October. That was the only time the USA went to DEFCON 2, so far.
@@phenixwryter There was a movie released called Kursk in 2018, it's pretty damn good and accurate. Although just like Chernobyl Russia has decided to make it's own version telling the "truth" so there's two things to look forward to soon, a badly produced miniseries where the CIA blow up a nuclear power plant and a badly produced movie where an American sub rams a Russian sub. And people seriously believe the Soviet Union died in 1991 hahaha...
@@wino0000006 actually, even people who get radiation treatment to fight cancer keep kind of "radiating"few days. Firemen got so much of it that their bodies kept speading it. That is why they had to burried them in concrete, their bodies would be radiating many years.
Спасибо что смотрите, и спасибо HBO за то, что показали миру правду и заинтересовали людей поиске информации об этой ужасной трагедии. Я, живя в 135 км. от Чернобыля, к своему стыду, вспоминаю об этой трагедии только в годовщину этих событий. Надеюсь мы и весь мир будет уважать и помнить людей, которые отдали жизни ради нашей жизни и здоровья. Слава героям Чернобыля!!!!!
I was 6 at the time when this happened in chernobyl. And because I live in Finland just next door to Russia the radiation cloud reached in my country and all so in Sweden . I remember that my mom gave iodine pills in every day for 2 to 3years and swimming, eating berries from forest and going outside when rained was prohibited and forbidden.
I served the Sovjet Union? No.. You served the planet! But I am missing one thing, in reality General Nikolai Tarakanov usually said: "I wish you long life and good health, and that you might become a general". General Tarakanov is still alive btw, as far as I know he is now 85 years old but suffering from radiation ever since.
The products sprayed by the helicopters were sulfide lye, and latex. For the most part at least. The main purpose was to "fix" the dust to make it less volatile.
If you are enjoying Chernobyl, I recommend checking out the official podcast that comes out after each episode. The show's creator goes into more detail about what was happening at the time. Also, some of the stories they wanted to show but didn't have time for.
The bit about the dog with her puppies is true, and in the podcast he tells more of that story that was filmed, but they cut it from the espisode because it crossed the line. Think about that for a second. There was something worse than that scene.
If you like the series and Metro, might I suggest you play the games that started it all? The Zone is calling you, Meeks...... it's time for *S.T.A.L.K.E.R.*
Especially first Metro captured that soviet postapocalyptic nuclear atmosphere so well. It's something dangerous yet fascinating. I'm about to replay Metro 2033 and LL Redux and go with Exodus soon.
The soldiers in the field are generally just mapping out local radiation. They briefly mentioned this right before they discovered, “the tanks are full.” Essentially put a grid and radiation numbers on a map to give you an idea of where hot spots are, where the wind and rain spread everything etc. to better coordinate cleanup.
*Sorry, this is gonna be a long one @ManicMeeks * I'm 34 as well, and we didn't even get one sentence about Chernobyl in high school. Everything I know about Chernobyl, I learned through documentaries on Nat Geo, Discovery and here on You Tube... It has however, always fascinated me. I've thoroughly enjoyed your reaction/reviews of each episode! There was a couple things I wanted to make mention of in particular about this reaction. Firstly, the Bio-Robots scene, they actually filmed that in real time. It was appx. 90 seconds long to show one full simulated trip onto the roof of the reactor. This is an actual photo of the bio-robots on the roof. Notice how perfect the show did the recreation of these lead/leather suits... 2.bp.blogspot.com/-zDwXLtfwTwE/TaC0R11gIBI/AAAAAAAAAfg/vkR0-7IDT8o/s320/5081118561_1ca878b8b7.jpg The young boy, "Pavel the Hunter" who has to kill the animals was at the end of episode three. He's the same kid you see "signing up for the draft." There wasn't anything the Soviets could do. The only other country that had enough advanced tech. at the time in 1986 to come up with something to prevent bio-robots being used, was the U.S. and as we all know, that wasn't going to happen during the Soviet Russian and U.S.'s Cold War still going on. They possibly could have asked the U.N. for help, but that would require the US knowing too much information about the disaster and as we all know as well, the Soviets did NOT want to look weak in the face of the Americans... Also, just to confirm for you, the disaster occurred in 1986, Legasov killed himself in 1988.
My grandpa told me some stories from Chornobyl. Like one man died because some stupid decided to steal some stuff from the 4th reactor pieces and hid it under that man bed. After few days they did find those pieces but it was too late and the man got radiation sickness. After few weeks he died. The other story was about postman that fell asleep with cigarette and it caused the fire which killed him right in the tent. Problem was that the postman was drunk (they’ve been drinking a lot of vodka to make get some resistance from the radiation). Grandpa was one of those soldiers that 4th episode shows. He died in 2015 from Alzheimer’s disease. When I was a kid or a teen I wasn’t interested in Chornobyl disaster that much, only after grandpa’s death I’ve started looking for any information about what happened there back in 1986. They were and still are the real superheroes and I’m glad that HBO did that show just how they did. It perfectly shows all the horror of the disaster. P.s. Men from the roof got 800 rubles each. Back then it was approximately 1000 USD.
For the same tasks at Fukushima 2011 (Japan) human were used as well. And Japan far more superior in roborics then US. Besides, I live 20 miles away of the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe with 6 of those RBMK-1000 (modernized after Chernobyl). And that, that had been happened in Chernobyl was not a fault of bad design - design fitures affected on scale of catastrophy, but not at catastrophic outcome (american reactor in this case will be as well catastrophic in a lower amount catastrophic disaster - Fukushima, Japan 2011) - that was military experiment in running energy plant in extreme condition (such as air strike). Nuclear energy is safe as for me.
I were 4 years old kid, that April. And I were 9 years old when Soviet Union collapsed (I remember these 3 days of collapsing August 19-21, 1991) And I have a fellow who was 3 years old and he actually lived in Pripyat till evacuation of the town (he showed me some pictures of his abandoned room and teddy bear in it few years ago).
Yup, when I watched Ep4 back again, I have to fast forward through the animal shooting scenes. I know it had to be done, but OMG it's beyond awful to watch! And that very last scene with Lyudmilla's empty cot. Gets me every time 😭
The man who commanded the roof cleaners was Major General Nikolai Tarakanov. He is alive today at 85 and he lives with radiation sickness. All of the men under his command were volunteers given a chance to refuse work. A Soviet Doctor told him and his men "You're going to suffer till the end of your life. Chernobyl won't let you go."
@@w77eed Hopefully not! :-( But I did suggest it because it's the kind of thing people who like history might also enjoy, since it deals so much with world-building, politics, sociology. THT's portrayal of life under a totalitarian regime and the many ways, great and small, people resist oppression also takes a lot of inspiration from (among others) life during Eastern Bloc / Soviet communism. Margaret Atwood made a point of including no specific... unpleasantness... in the original novel that has not happened/been done to real people in the real world, at some point, though of course she combined elements differently and invented her own context and society.
Handmaid's Tale is the Atlas Shrugged of modern Feminism. Your own ideological poison is the only thing that can make it seem remotely relevant to anything.
11:13 »The official position of the State is that a global nuclear catastrophe is not possible in the Soviet Union.« This was possibly the most chilling thing I’ve heard. It reminds me how Trump and other politicians try to silence research on climate change and global warming. I love your reactions watching this miniseries, ManicMeeks, and I'm enjoying your videos immensely! Cheers!
You must say trump falut. GW is a normal proces as Komrade said , we just push it faster . And i dont think tha trump wanted silence pls dont be that person who need something to hate .
@@haliax1460 And there we have it. "What is the cost of lies"? That you can no longer recognize the truth. I was reminded every episode about climate change and this is the exact thing that Trump does. Deny deny deny. Lie. Lie. Lie. And like they said at the end, the lies create a debt and the debt will be paid. The truth doesn't care about politics. It's not about hate. It's about calling out the misinformation for the sake of the planet, our lives, and future generations.
It is i see how people lost theri mindes for hate and no longer seek truth. Yes trump left PD but that was stupid and rest countries didnt fulfill it as they should . I dont remeber that in each ep was about climate change we must seen dif serial . Again tell me it is only trump falut and he is like kgb sends people do prison no.Also i have seen how he care about in dif way , for example cleaing of ocean . But you cant see good only bad and sorry but you are worng when you compare trump and ZSSR at same level . It only show your blind hate . what is sad . Next you will tell me he is like Hitler .
»The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.« (@realDonaldTrump November 6, 2012) »Ice storm rolls from Texas to Tennessee - I’m in Los Angeles and it’s freezing. Global warming is a total, and very expensive, hoax!« (@realDonaldTrump December 6, 2013) »NBC News just called it the great freeze - coldest weather in years. Is our country still spending money on the GLOBAL WARMING HOAX?« (@realDonaldTrump January 25, 2014) »Snowing in Texas and Louisiana, record setting freezing temperatures throughout the country and beyond. Global warming is an expensive hoax!« (@realDonaldTrump January 29, 2014) »Give me clean, beautiful and healthy air - not the same old climate change (global warming) bullshit! I am tired of hearing this nonsense. (@realDonaldTrump January 29, 2014) Do you not see the problem here?
I see that he said something and ? I do get point that he don't believe in climate change and that is his opinion do you wanna take him away ?My problem with your comment was that people insted of enyjoin movie must see behind it trump at all cost . What about africa , asia , or sa. You blame trump for all . And you are mistaken he dont silence anyone or send them into prison soo please dont put him in same category as ZSSR politician . You just wanted kick him besc it feels good and put all blame at him . You may agree or disagree . If you wanna help climate change do it.
40 years is probably about right, it took years to clean out the reactor nr. 2 of Three Miles Island. The reactor vessel itself will only be demolished when the other still active reactor nr. 1 is taken off line (wich will be in 2034). The accident was in March 1978, the reactor was opened in 1985 and by 1990 the last remnants of the molten core where removed and another two years to remove contaminated cooling water.
In a country like ours, with an open press and educational system, most people don't REALLY understand the dangers of radiation. In a nation like the USSR, with all knowledge restricted, there was no realistic hope that she would do what the nurses said. She saw them go in, and thought if it's safe for them, it would be safe for her. And so she is another victim of lies.
What they’re spraying is essentially a dust suppressant. Likewise how they washed the truck before. The name of the game is controlling the dirt and dust that have radioactive particles in it. Also why they burry the top layer of dirt under lower layers as to keep the radioactive bits isolated. There are other techniques but this is basically it.
Reminds me of when we accidentally dropped a nuke on France(or 3). In 1966, an accident happened when a B52 was refueling in air. Destroying both aircraft. 4 of the bombers crew managed to escape while the other 3, as well as the entire 4man crew of the tanker, where killed. The bomber had a payload of 4 nuclear bombs. 1 landed in the Mediterranean and was recovered about 3 months later. The 3 other bombs landed on French land and 2 had their explosives detonate (NON-nuclear explosion that broke apart the bombs), which spread plutonium contaminating the area. During cleanup, less radioactive soil was just tilled below lower layers of dirt. However, the more contaminated soil was essentially shipped back to the US totaling 6000 66gal barrels. The movie “Men of Honor” with Cuba Golding Jr. starts and ends with the recover of that 4th bomb from the Mediterranean Sea.
Please watch The Terror! Jared Harris (the guy who play Legasov in this) and Adam Nagaitis (the firefighter from the last episode) are in it, its about the Franklin expedition to the Artic in 1845 aboard two ships who just vanished, it gets pretty graphic but i guess if you watched game of thrones you're good, btw is a fictionalization of what supposedly happened so its very much not realistic but VERY entertaining, very good mystery and fantasy in there.
1 the girl didn't want her husband to die alone 2 nobody told her how radiation works, like everyone else In those times in situation like this (and nothing alike ever happened before) you just didn't know what is and what's not allowed to say
Actually after her husband was stripped off his working clothes and washed - he was not able to transmit radiation - so she was actually safe. The isolation of him was for his own protection as his immune system was shutting down.
@@wino0000006 dude, the medics were getting diseases just for nursing the liquidators from Chernobyl. It's not just the closes infected. Trees and humans were just as dangerous to be around
Check it properly! Very very little radiation is constantly going out of human body, and in some circumstances, when it is absorbed and stored inside the body, it becomes dangerous for others around.check some medical journals they explain it way better.
They said it was physically extremelly exhausing, hard to breath, hard to move, very hard to run back. They said after 90 sec they felt like after 8 very hard working hours. And some of them managed to go up there several times!
Yeah I saw the video footage of one of the 90-second cleanups, pretty much exactly what they depicted on the show. When I first watched the scene I swore it lasted a lot longer than 90 seconds, then watched it again and timed it and it was exactly 90 seconds from the opening ring to the callback ring.
I love the fact that folks your age are finding out that the history you are seeing- some of us lived through. I was 10 when this happened, and my Mom made darn sure we were aware of what was happening. The Cold War years were a different time for many
Just came across your channel because of Chernobyl, but I love your content so far. You have an awesome personality, and you totally geek out just like me so that's perfect. And you love Bioshock too, which is amazeballs. Loving the channel so far!
To answer your question, the accident happened in 1986. 1988 what when Valery committed suicide. If you're interested in this era of the cold war, I would recommend checking out The Americans! It's a fictional series, but it has a lot of historical context from this era. Plus it's a great show! Love the reactions! Keep it up!!
7:38 it isn't just the "food" they are getting rid of, it's about 1ft of topsoil they removed from the majority of the exclusion zone. 7:46 They are dropping a chemical substance which is essentially glue. It is to glue the radioactive dust particles to whatever surface they have settled upon in order to prevent the wind from picking them up and carrying them off. 10:28 Some of it was pushed off the edge back into the maw of the reactor (mostly in zone Misha) The rest was dumped off the edge into ditches dug at the base of the wall which was then concreted and buried over with dirt. 16:00 The true cost of this accident in human suffering is incredible and largely remains unacknowledged by the official position of the worlds government. The real fact is around 1 million people have suffered cancers, deaths, and severely ill health. There is a congenital heart defect in newborns in Belarus called "Chernobyl Heart" as a direct result of contamination. And that's not even covering the 100s of serious birth mutations this has caused.
Why are you bringing up conspiracy theories? No need for that. There was a visible spike thyroid cancer indicence with children. Luckily, that's one of the easiest cancers to treat. The prognosis gives some 4000 deaths will occur due to radionuclides emitted. It's math, public health, statistics, biophysics. Nobody made up those numbers and there is no covering up anymore.
Great work........keep it up. a lot of people died, the soviet union just didn't admit it because......oh well we know why they didn't. Things didn't happen in the soviet union.........according to the soviet union.
Extra bit of horror: I hear that one of those puppies was still alive when the load was dumped into the hole. The soldiers had run out of ammo and couldn't reload before the concrete had already covered the dogs.
I was 21 years old when this happened. I had just gotten out of the army and had come home from Turkey where I was stationed right on the coast of the Black Sea. So where I was at was just about two or three hundred miles from Chernobyl. I remember I had been home for about a month when it happened.
I got a bit more than a page and a half, but my middle school taught Russian, and I lived in Kennewick, WA, very near the Hanford site. We learned about radiological incidents.
Brief explanation to those not understanding the power structure of the soviet union Central Committee : Executive Branch, Gorbachev's Inner Circle. They set policy and run the Soviet Union with Gorbachev in charge, can make declarations and enforce laws regarding official soviet policy. Mikhail Gorbachev, the Chairman of the Central Committee, would be equivalent to the President. Council of Ministers : Logistics and Legislative, they can make declarations and enforce laws regarding distribution of labor and materials. The Chairman of the Council of Ministers is known as the "Premiere of the Soviet Union" Who at this time is Nikolai Ryzhkov, equivalent to Prime Minister. The two offices were separated after Khrushchev was deposed. He was the last Soviet Chairman and Premiere Both names are mentioned when Shcherbina smashes the phone in the office. @10:56
"She did this to herself." It isn't completely her fault, but it was the system that failed her, her husband, the other victims, and even the medical personnel dealing with the fallout. Back then the government didn't release much information to its own people on the incident so no one knew how bad it was. She explained later that the doctors also let her through, so if you trusted in medical pros who are caring for your husband and if they let you go ahead, then going to comfort her dying husband isn't a surprise. It's sad, and it's an easy thing to blame her, but she was just a person who wasn't given any information. And she wasn't the only one who experienced this - many people weren't told and they all suffered too. It was widespread.
For a historical miniseries I suggest from the earth to the moon it is an HBO miniseries from the late 90's. It covers the entire Apollo space program. It is kind of hard to find though.
DAY ONE On September 1, 1986 a German robot "Joker" broke down. With a lot of difficulties this robot was installed in the most dangerous zone "M". Local robots were unable to work there. High hopes were placed on "Joker". It was the last argument that people should not be used for decontamination. But the robot "sat down" on the graphite block and was stuck there. Our hero with two other subordinates came out to the roof coating into the zone of high radioactivity to pull off "the Fritz" with the help of winch. They managed to do this but... th-cam.com/video/jV45AFCwcUc/w-d-xo.html
I very much doubt it. There had never been a need for machinery which could operate in 12,000 Rgns of radiation before. It possibly could have been created, but time was a factor, otherwise the Soviet Union would have been able to produce it itself. The Soviet Union had less money, and a lower standard of living, but all kinds of basic needs were free, or virtually free, including housing, healthcare and education, so 800 Rbs would have gone that much further.
What really got me with this episode was the fact that they used 3828 men to clear the roof, and the general just had those few left standing at the end.
I still can't believe that we didn't learn more about this in school! Like, I live in Canada and we mostly learned about World Wars and Canadian history. By the way, I love that you do research on the events to compare to the show. I thought I was one of the few! Love the videos!
I was in Europe and Downwind of this when it happened. We couldn't eat or drink any dairy or egg from the Economy. We drank a lot of powdered milk and ate powdered eggs for a good four months. Chernobyl was not the only Soviet Nuclear Accident and not the worst Soviet Nuclear Accident. Since 1950 the Soviet Union had 57 land based Nuclear Accidents. The worst of which more than doubled the release of Chernobyl. These, for the most part, were in desolate places and closed cities in Siberia and Kazakhstan and not reported. One accident was in Leningrad/ St. Petersburg! They had releases of weaponized anthrax among other things that wiped out whole villages. Those villages are no longer on the map. Welcome to Socialism.
Love your reactions you do such a great job. This episode made me cringe a lot. Even though you never saw them actually kill any of the animals.... my imagination made it so much worse.
Have a heart, lady. She didn't know the first goddamn thing about radiation (like pretty much most ordinary people back then) and her newlywed husband was dying in the most painful way imaginable. Yes, she shouldn't have stayed with him but human beings aren't like robots going BEEP BOOP MUST BE RATIONAL AND LOGICAL ALWAYS at all times.
Thanks for sharing your vids with us. For so long common folks didn't understand what radiation poisoning would do. Even now, the horror of it all is a learning experience.
07:48 They are dropping dust binders. Radioactive contamination is _dust_ and _aerosols_ . Tiny little particles that are giving off the radiation. So what you want to do is to get the dust and the dirt to _stay put_ and not blow around in the winds. They are dropping things that will (or at least they hope it will) make the contamination drop to the ground and stay there.
So that black stuff they were dropping out of the helicopters was most likely carbon dust like from ground up charcoal. It wasn't great, but it did help absorb some of the radiation, and at that point, any little bit helped...
There’s a documentary video on TH-cam that is exactly this episode. It is INSANE how closely this episode replicated what happened. Down to the lead armor costumes, the lines delivered, the handshaking scene, the climbing the chimney and placing the flag. All of that was filmed when they actually did it back in 1986
My mom knew a girl who was at the May Day parade in Kiev 1986 few days after the exposition (Nobody cancelled it, why bother) So she was pregnant at that time and right after the parade she’d moved to south of the country. Unfortunately her baby was born dead and covered in burns... they said her baby absorbed all of the radiation. RIP to all those affected in this terrible tragedy.
On recommendations: Band of Brothers! Fictional interpretation of an american airborne company during the entirety of WW2. With interviews of the real veterans that are present as characters in the show. Quite historically accurate and definitely the best miniseries ever made in my book.
Read about Lyudmilla Ingatenko's chapter in "Voice of Chernobyl" and the Podcast from HBO. You have to remember the USSR lied to the people about how "safe" radiation was ("The Friendly Atom"). She had no idea radiation was going to be harmful to her or her baby- this is how totalitarian the USSR was and they didn't give a damn if people died. Its sickening to know this could have been prevented. I was angry at her as well; until I read her chapter in that book- then I felt sympathy for her. She lost everything because of the USSR's lack of responsibility. Also, read about the Radium Girls- this happened here in the US.
Except that's not true at all. soviet civil defense did in fact educate people about dangers of radiation. A lot of households had civil defense handbook, along with the kit. Shit was thought to the factory workers and etc. Obviously there were gaps. Soviet civil defense was short on staff and money so not every household had the gas mask, first aid kit's with iodium, etc. And not every community in USSR had said education/briefing. But generally Soviet union had far better and larger civil defense program then say United states. A simple google search would show that.
@@robertvirabjans9377 true, we lived not in ussr but stil in east block and there were regular exercises even for kids from age of 6. I remember it well. And to me in those Voices from chernobyl, she remembers people explaining it to her in the hospital. Logically, she must have known. She probably just could not think straight in all this disaster.
There's a documentary called "Chernobyl's Heart" that is about 50 minutes long about the 2nd generation of children being born where most of the surviving Ukrainian Pripyat's residents live. It's going to change how you feel about nuclear power if this didn't.
What I do find fascinating, is that since the accident in 1986 Animals have actually moved back into the exclusion zone and from what I've seen are starting to adapt to the area. Another reactor made mention of the famous dogs of Chernobyl. What I learned is that some of the descendants of those dogs still live in the area.
I’m sure you’ve caught in to all this by now but; The lady who was pregnant, yes she was hardheaded. But, 1: they had no business letting her in there at all. Whether they knew she was pregnant or not. She wasn’t supposed to be there. 2: they didn’t tell her it’s radiation burns, like the doctor applying milk to the burns, she thought they were regular burns. They did not warn her properly and plainly of the danger because they didn’t want it getting out at all. So they treated the entire situation like oh nothing is wrong. Sounds crazy but that’s happened in a lot of catastrophes. Even staff who are risking their lives aren’t fully aware of what’s happening. Only government. And in Soviet Russia, you are told to do it and you do it. You do not ask questions. This isn’t to say the same sort of disaster couldn’t happen anywhere else, definitely could. But the way their social system works it’s just odd to us. That’s the experience of observing other social groups and cultures. That shit will catch up to you in a disaster. You need people who think for themselves and act and are allowed to act freely. And let information out to be scrutinized for better or worse. Then a lot of this could have been avoided.
The old lady stands for a few families who refused to leave. They were left there and there was an interview at the end of the 1990ths that they still feel fine. More families moved into the evacuation zone as capitalism forced them out of work and made them homeless. It's a fantastic story, watch some documentaries especially the one about the Chernobyl Wildlife.
@16:55 had me dying! 😂 You went from "I'm against animal cruelty, I don't want them to die violently" immediately to "if I get this gnat imma fuq it up!" And didn't miss a beat, lmao 😂
We weren't taught this because it was all covered up! It's not the school systems fault, it's Russia's. The most comprehensive book to come out about it was released this past year. The writer Creator said in the podcast that he wished he had the book Midnight in Chernobyl when he was writing this. The wife/mother was a real person. Unfortunately her storyline hasn't been dramatized, it's just bugnuts crazy stupid. I'm watching episode 5 tonight. See you on the other side.
Stumbled on to this channel during your Lovecraft Country reaction video... Your raw emotion has me hooked now. (Subscribe) I'm about to go through all of your videos and share them 💯
First time I heard about Chernobyl was in H.S. '93 or '94 but not from school books. I heard about it in an episode of The X-Files. After that I kept an eye out for any documentaries and only saw one a few yrs later. It was many years ago, so I didn't remember much except no one knew about the severity and all they mentioned was the cancer. This however, jeez!
Now I listened to real liquidators reaction about the series, one of them told that he saw an animal , really really bad shape , almost not recognizable , and it was a cat . He said it was a terrible sight . From radiation :( So in a way it was a humane thing to do - kill the animals before such suffering.
They were dropping compounds that would dampen the radiation. I'm unsure what it was, but I do remember reading they had a couple different solutions they used. They dropped it from helicopters over the M-zone rooftop where men spent 90 seconds each, throwing debris from the reactor back into the core chamber. Joker is buried in a corner of the vehicle cemetery, unceremoniously. It is still very.. VERY radioactive. Apparently, the scene with the puppies was in reference to a real account, where liquidators discovered a pup had survived in the shipment to the burial site. They wanted to kill it, but they had run out of bullets.. So yeah.. that's depressing. The men who climbed the stack to fly the red flag were exposed to a lot of radiation, as the core was still open. They were rewarded with a bottle of pepsi and a day off. :D Oh and also, props to you for the Doom shirt.
Well you would have to purchase US Dollars on the black market. There was no official exchange rate. But to get you an idea in 1986, 800 Rubles could be unofficially exchanged for $30 dollars.
Reaction to episode 3 “oh God radiation poisoning is terrifying. This show can’t get more horrific!”
Episode 4: Hold my beer.
Episode 4: Hold my graphite and Mosin rifle
Ep4 was easy
Rather : Hold my joker
Episode 4: I hear you like puppies?
It can and it will.
Question : "What could you buy for 800 Rubles in the Soviet Union in 1986"
To answer this you have to understand that the Soviet Union did not have an international currency. No money market, no foreign investment, most foreign money went into the black market, as everything was planned to keep prices low.
The minimum guaranteed income was 70 rubles a month, figuring that renting a room cost 1 ruble a day at most boarding houses leaving you 10 rubles a week for food. There was no unemployment in the soviet union and it was literally illegal to be homeless. No really, work and keep a house, or go to prison for 5 to 15 years on either a communal farm, or a building project.
More than half the people in the soviet union (56%) made about 200 Rubles a month Which was considered adequate for someone who was a single parent raising a child, or a single person caring for the elderly or disabled. Having children and taking care of the elderly was encouraged as you could bargain for higher wages.
The top 1% the Politburo, the top lawmakers and politicians made about 300 to 400 Rubles a month.
So 800 Rubles in 1986 in the soviet union, would be equivalent to an American getting 2 months of a US Congressperson's salary.
@Judy G. I am not quite sure what you're responding to exactly.
800 rubles in USSR through "86 its amount who my be dont see through all life at once,
sad but true
@@hristoyanakiev4785 especially for a conscripted worker.
The above is correct, but if anyone is interested in the direct conversion based off of the gold standard on which the Soviet Ruble was still on, it would be $1040 in 1986 dollars, which would be $2,424.91 today
My grandpa was a colonel at financial crimes bureau (ОБХСС) and he was paid 600 rubles per month; that's pretty close to maximum possible salary in USSR. 800 is quite a lot, still not worth to take that risks, but it has to be done and I highly doubt any of these guys did that for money.
The animals were radioactive so they probably would've die terrible death anyway. But they were also very dangerous for people because they could go outside the zone . And nobody could know that that animal from the zone and adopt it :( So they did not have much choice: (
Rational brain is like "yes we know" but puppy brain is like "BUT PUPPIES"
They could have used them to shovel the roof.
@@wino0000006 bish how.
@@MARYWTHER "puppy brain" is a good way of putting it
@@wino0000006 how??! I'm genuinely curious to know.
You have to realise, about her situation, she wasnt told WHAT exactly was dangerous.
Radiation wasnt remotely as well known as it is today. All she knew was that something was dangerous to her if she stayed in there too long. Something she doesnt understand, feel, see, taste or hear. And at the same time she is watching the person she loves most in her life literally rot to death.
She was irrational and irresponsible, but by god is it understandable.
The men who cleaned the final roof. That 90 seconds was all the radiation that they could be exposed to. Lifetime... no xrays avoid microwaves, that’s it. And even then their lives were fantastically shortened. 90 seconds.
Microwaves, like radiowaves and light, are not ionizing radiation and they have nothing to do with this. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't talk about it.
@Schnake Eyes Statistical average would be few years less than expected lifetime. Hence 90 seconds only.
@Schnake Eyes Well let's say your average life expectancy is 80 years, exposure to that for 90 secs or longer would cut it down to about 40 years
i haven't been able to find numbers but supposedly many of the 3828 are still alive, but many of them are dealing with long term effects and health issues caused by the radiation they were exposed to.
Several people also went up multiple times, I recall reading.
I think she was willing to risk her life to be with her husband until he died. It never occurred to her that her baby would be the one to pay the price. That's how I see it. So at the end there she's dealing with her grief over losing her husband and baby, plus the guilt of exposing their baby to the radiation. There was a Russian sub accident in 2000, they refused to ask for or accept help until it was too late to save anyone. So that kind of pride that costs lives is an ongoing thing with them.
Yes. The Russian sub was the Kursk. I remember when that happened.
Folks should look up the Kursk Disaster. There are videos about it, and of Putin's press conference where a grieving mother who angrily shouted at Putin was clearly sedated by those who wanted her to shut up.
I remember hearing about Chernobyl when the news got out.
I was a kid when we were taught to hide under our school desks in the event of a nuclear bomb attack. We know now how useless that would have been. I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Missiles of October. That was the only time the USA went to DEFCON 2, so far.
Actually the only radiation she got was in Prypriat. In Moscow she couldn't have got any more radiation.
@@phenixwryter There was a movie released called Kursk in 2018, it's pretty damn good and accurate. Although just like Chernobyl Russia has decided to make it's own version telling the "truth" so there's two things to look forward to soon, a badly produced miniseries where the CIA blow up a nuclear power plant and a badly produced movie where an American sub rams a Russian sub. And people seriously believe the Soviet Union died in 1991 hahaha...
@@wino0000006 actually, even people who get radiation treatment to fight cancer keep kind of "radiating"few days. Firemen got so much of it that their bodies kept speading it. That is why they had to burried them in concrete, their bodies would be radiating many years.
Спасибо что смотрите, и спасибо HBO за то, что показали миру правду и заинтересовали людей поиске информации об этой ужасной трагедии. Я, живя в 135 км. от Чернобыля, к своему стыду, вспоминаю об этой трагедии только в годовщину этих событий. Надеюсь мы и весь мир будет уважать и помнить людей, которые отдали жизни ради нашей жизни и здоровья. Слава героям Чернобыля!!!!!
I was 6 at the time when this happened in chernobyl. And because I live in Finland just next door to Russia the radiation cloud reached in my country and all so in Sweden . I remember that my mom gave iodine pills in every day for 2 to 3years and swimming, eating berries from forest and going outside when rained was prohibited and forbidden.
Why would you take iodine pills for 2-3 years? Radioiodine is gone in few months and taking iodine supplements has its own toll on the thyroid gland.
@@lajoswinkler there is a Simpele answer . My mom is quite over protective towards me and my Brothers.
@@sannakarppinen4163 She did more harm than good. I hope your health is ok.
@@lajoswinkler I m totally fine and healthy
@@sannakarppinen4163 I'm glad to hear that. You were lucky your thyroid gland didn't go nuts.
I served the Sovjet Union? No.. You served the planet!
But I am missing one thing, in reality General Nikolai Tarakanov usually said: "I wish you long life and good health, and that you might become a general".
General Tarakanov is still alive btw, as far as I know he is now 85 years old but suffering from radiation ever since.
"If it doesn't affect the US, you get a page and a half." Unfortunately, true, and is a damning indictment of America's education system.
The Pacific and Band of Brothers are really good WW2 HBO miniseries. Keep the reactions coming!
The products sprayed by the helicopters were sulfide lye, and latex.
For the most part at least.
The main purpose was to "fix" the dust to make it less volatile.
If you are enjoying Chernobyl, I recommend checking out the official podcast that comes out after each episode. The show's creator goes into more detail about what was happening at the time. Also, some of the stories they wanted to show but didn't have time for.
The bit about the dog with her puppies is true, and in the podcast he tells more of that story that was filmed, but they cut it from the espisode because it crossed the line. Think about that for a second. There was something worse than that scene.
@@mans048 Yah, I don't recommend to listen to the podcast of this episode and find out what happened if you are a dog person...
If you like the series and Metro, might I suggest you play the games that started it all? The Zone is calling you, Meeks...... it's time for *S.T.A.L.K.E.R.*
Couldn't help but think about that game while I watched
Especially first Metro captured that soviet postapocalyptic nuclear atmosphere so well. It's something dangerous yet fascinating. I'm about to replay Metro 2033 and LL Redux and go with Exodus soon.
"Eeets Boris!"
Get out of here stalker
800 rubles in 1986 was 3 months pay, even for the highest-earning households, so those soldiers got a pretty good bonus for 90 seconds of work
Actually they only got 100 rubles each person, which is nothing if you think they risked their lives and they probably have health problems today.
The soldiers in the field are generally just mapping out local radiation. They briefly mentioned this right before they discovered, “the tanks are full.” Essentially put a grid and radiation numbers on a map to give you an idea of where hot spots are, where the wind and rain spread everything etc. to better coordinate cleanup.
I have seen 2 suggestions for The Terror. It is amazing you should definetly check it out its so underrated! 💙
terror is a must
Will do
The Terror is awesome, but kinda scary for me.
*Sorry, this is gonna be a long one @ManicMeeks *
I'm 34 as well, and we didn't even get one sentence about Chernobyl in high school. Everything I know about Chernobyl, I learned through documentaries on Nat Geo, Discovery and here on You Tube... It has however, always fascinated me. I've thoroughly enjoyed your reaction/reviews of each episode!
There was a couple things I wanted to make mention of in particular about this reaction. Firstly, the Bio-Robots scene, they actually filmed that in real time. It was appx. 90 seconds long to show one full simulated trip onto the roof of the reactor. This is an actual photo of the bio-robots on the roof. Notice how perfect the show did the recreation of these lead/leather suits... 2.bp.blogspot.com/-zDwXLtfwTwE/TaC0R11gIBI/AAAAAAAAAfg/vkR0-7IDT8o/s320/5081118561_1ca878b8b7.jpg
The young boy, "Pavel the Hunter" who has to kill the animals was at the end of episode three. He's the same kid you see "signing up for the draft."
There wasn't anything the Soviets could do. The only other country that had enough advanced tech. at the time in 1986 to come up with something to prevent bio-robots being used, was the U.S. and as we all know, that wasn't going to happen during the Soviet Russian and U.S.'s Cold War still going on. They possibly could have asked the U.N. for help, but that would require the US knowing too much information about the disaster and as we all know as well, the Soviets did NOT want to look weak in the face of the Americans...
Also, just to confirm for you, the disaster occurred in 1986, Legasov killed himself in 1988.
My grandpa told me some stories from Chornobyl. Like one man died because some stupid decided to steal some stuff from the 4th reactor pieces and hid it under that man bed. After few days they did find those pieces but it was too late and the man got radiation sickness. After few weeks he died.
The other story was about postman that fell asleep with cigarette and it caused the fire which killed him right in the tent. Problem was that the postman was drunk (they’ve been drinking a lot of vodka to make get some resistance from the radiation).
Grandpa was one of those soldiers that 4th episode shows. He died in 2015 from Alzheimer’s disease.
When I was a kid or a teen I wasn’t interested in Chornobyl disaster that much, only after grandpa’s death I’ve started looking for any information about what happened there back in 1986.
They were and still are the real superheroes and I’m glad that HBO did that show just how they did. It perfectly shows all the horror of the disaster.
P.s. Men from the roof got 800 rubles each. Back then it was approximately 1000 USD.
For the same tasks at Fukushima 2011 (Japan) human were used as well. And Japan far more superior in roborics then US.
Besides, I live 20 miles away of the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe with 6 of those RBMK-1000 (modernized after Chernobyl).
And that, that had been happened in Chernobyl was not a fault of bad design - design fitures affected on scale of catastrophy, but not at catastrophic outcome (american reactor in this case will be as well catastrophic in a lower amount catastrophic disaster - Fukushima, Japan 2011) - that was military experiment in running energy plant in extreme condition (such as air strike). Nuclear energy is safe as for me.
32 year old American here - don't remember a single sentence in school about Chernobyl either.
I were 4 years old kid, that April. And I were 9 years old when Soviet Union collapsed (I remember these 3 days of collapsing August 19-21, 1991) And I have a fellow who was 3 years old and he actually lived in Pripyat till evacuation of the town (he showed me some pictures of his abandoned room and teddy bear in it few years ago).
I was 13 and living in the UK, we were aware of Chernobyl and there were fears that the rain would contain radiation.
Yup, when I watched Ep4 back again, I have to fast forward through the animal shooting scenes. I know it had to be done, but OMG it's beyond awful to watch!
And that very last scene with Lyudmilla's empty cot. Gets me every time 😭
Its fine.
They all are in heaven!
Oh, what about Band of Brothers? Have you already watched that?
I haven't and I will definitely add that to the list!
@@ManicMeeks Band of Brothers is a masterpiece
The man who commanded the roof cleaners was Major General Nikolai Tarakanov. He is alive today at 85 and he lives with radiation sickness. All of the men under his command were volunteers given a chance to refuse work. A Soviet Doctor told him and his men "You're going to suffer till the end of your life. Chernobyl won't let you go."
Historical show suggestion: Rome. More fictionalized style, but AFAIK their research was decent.
Non-historical show suggestion: The Handmaid's Tale.
Thats not true. The Handmaid's Tale is history which just hasn't happened yet.
@@w77eed Hopefully not! :-( But I did suggest it because it's the kind of thing people who like history might also enjoy, since it deals so much with world-building, politics, sociology. THT's portrayal of life under a totalitarian regime and the many ways, great and small, people resist oppression also takes a lot of inspiration from (among others) life during Eastern Bloc / Soviet communism.
Margaret Atwood made a point of including no specific... unpleasantness... in the original novel that has not happened/been done to real people in the real world, at some point, though of course she combined elements differently and invented her own context and society.
Handmaid's Tale is the Atlas Shrugged of modern Feminism. Your own ideological poison is the only thing that can make it seem remotely relevant to anything.
If there is one thing Russia has always, always been good at, its mobilizing men. And that was on full display with Chernobyl.
11:13 »The official position of the State is that a global nuclear catastrophe is not possible in the Soviet Union.«
This was possibly the most chilling thing I’ve heard. It reminds me how Trump and other politicians try to silence research on climate change and global warming.
I love your reactions watching this miniseries, ManicMeeks, and I'm enjoying your videos immensely! Cheers!
You must say trump falut. GW is a normal proces as Komrade said , we just push it faster . And i dont think tha trump wanted silence pls dont be that person who need something to hate .
@@haliax1460 And there we have it. "What is the cost of lies"? That you can no longer recognize the truth. I was reminded every episode about climate change and this is the exact thing that Trump does. Deny deny deny. Lie. Lie. Lie. And like they said at the end, the lies create a debt and the debt will be paid. The truth doesn't care about politics. It's not about hate. It's about calling out the misinformation for the sake of the planet, our lives, and future generations.
It is i see how people lost theri mindes for hate and no longer seek truth. Yes trump left PD but that was stupid and rest countries didnt fulfill it as they should . I dont remeber that in each ep was about climate change we must seen dif serial . Again tell me it is only trump falut and he is like kgb sends people do prison no.Also i have seen how he care about in dif way , for example cleaing of ocean . But you cant see good only bad and sorry but you are worng when you compare trump and ZSSR at same level . It only show your blind hate . what is sad . Next you will tell me he is like Hitler .
»The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.« (@realDonaldTrump November 6, 2012)
»Ice storm rolls from Texas to Tennessee - I’m in Los Angeles and it’s freezing. Global warming is a total, and very expensive, hoax!« (@realDonaldTrump December 6, 2013)
»NBC News just called it the great freeze - coldest weather in years. Is our country still spending money on the GLOBAL WARMING HOAX?« (@realDonaldTrump January 25, 2014)
»Snowing in Texas and Louisiana, record setting freezing temperatures throughout the country and beyond. Global warming is an expensive hoax!« (@realDonaldTrump January 29, 2014)
»Give me clean, beautiful and healthy air - not the same old climate change (global warming) bullshit! I am tired of hearing this nonsense. (@realDonaldTrump January 29, 2014)
Do you not see the problem here?
I see that he said something and ? I do get point that he don't believe in climate change and that is his opinion do you wanna take him away ?My problem with your comment was that people insted of enyjoin movie must see behind it trump at all cost . What about africa , asia , or sa. You blame trump for all . And you are mistaken he dont silence anyone or send them into prison soo please dont put him in same category as ZSSR politician . You just wanted kick him besc it feels good and put all blame at him . You may agree or disagree . If you wanna help climate change do it.
For the most part people did it not for the 800 rubles. They did it because they had to.
Girl I live for your Chernobyl reaction videos almost as much as I live for the series itself!! LOLOL!!!
If you like smart series you should check out "The Expanse" on Amazon Prime. By far the best Sci-Fi on TV right now.
true
I heard about this show too! This is going on the list for sure! Thanks for watching!
There was no equipment. Even now in Fukushima, robots are dying.
Dragoot- Luckily, the Japanese can mass produce them. I read it will take 40 years to clean up Fukishima.
40 years is probably about right, it took years to clean out the reactor nr. 2 of Three Miles Island. The reactor vessel itself will only be demolished when the other still active reactor nr. 1 is taken off line (wich will be in 2034). The accident was in March 1978, the reactor was opened in 1985 and by 1990 the last remnants of the molten core where removed and another two years to remove contaminated cooling water.
In a country like ours, with an open press and educational system, most people don't REALLY understand the dangers of radiation. In a nation like the USSR, with all knowledge restricted, there was no realistic hope that she would do what the nurses said. She saw them go in, and thought if it's safe for them, it would be safe for her. And so she is another victim of lies.
If you want a sombre historical show like this check out The Terror. It has the actor who plays Legasov.
What they’re spraying is essentially a dust suppressant. Likewise how they washed the truck before. The name of the game is controlling the dirt and dust that have radioactive particles in it. Also why they burry the top layer of dirt under lower layers as to keep the radioactive bits isolated. There are other techniques but this is basically it.
Reminds me of when we accidentally dropped a nuke on France(or 3). In 1966, an accident happened when a B52 was refueling in air. Destroying both aircraft. 4 of the bombers crew managed to escape while the other 3, as well as the entire 4man crew of the tanker, where killed. The bomber had a payload of 4 nuclear bombs. 1 landed in the Mediterranean and was recovered about 3 months later. The 3 other bombs landed on French land and 2 had their explosives detonate (NON-nuclear explosion that broke apart the bombs), which spread plutonium contaminating the area. During cleanup, less radioactive soil was just tilled below lower layers of dirt. However, the more contaminated soil was essentially shipped back to the US totaling 6000 66gal barrels.
The movie “Men of Honor” with Cuba Golding Jr. starts and ends with the recover of that 4th bomb from the Mediterranean Sea.
Just found your channel and I love your content and personality! Great job with everything!
Please watch The Terror! Jared Harris (the guy who play Legasov in this) and Adam Nagaitis (the firefighter from the last episode) are in it, its about the Franklin expedition to the Artic in 1845 aboard two ships who just vanished, it gets pretty graphic but i guess if you watched game of thrones you're good, btw is a fictionalization of what supposedly happened so its very much not realistic but VERY entertaining, very good mystery and fantasy in there.
Jared Harris almost sells me on everything he does. Adding this to the list!
@@ManicMeeks have you seen The Crown? He plays Elizabeth's dad. So, he's not in it for long, but still a memorable, fantastic performance.
@@ManicMeeks Jared Harris is also in the Expanse, which I noted you say you have your eye on also.
1 the girl didn't want her husband to die alone
2 nobody told her how radiation works, like everyone else
In those times in situation like this (and nothing alike ever happened before) you just didn't know what is and what's not allowed to say
Actually after her husband was stripped off his working clothes and washed - he was not able to transmit radiation - so she was actually safe. The isolation of him was for his own protection as his immune system was shutting down.
@@wino0000006 dude, the medics were getting diseases just for nursing the liquidators from Chernobyl. It's not just the closes infected. Trees and humans were just as dangerous to be around
@@tinabrah1699
In Moscow, 800 km away? Once body is washed it cannot transmit nuclear radiation to others - period.
Check it properly! Very very little radiation is constantly going out of human body, and in some circumstances, when it is absorbed and stored inside the body, it becomes dangerous for others around.check some medical journals they explain it way better.
Damn 90 seconds on that roof must have felt like the longest 90 seconds of their lives.
They said it was physically extremelly exhausing, hard to breath, hard to move, very hard to run back. They said after 90 sec they felt like after 8 very hard working hours. And some of them managed to go up there several times!
Yeah I saw the video footage of one of the 90-second cleanups, pretty much exactly what they depicted on the show. When I first watched the scene I swore it lasted a lot longer than 90 seconds, then watched it again and timed it and it was exactly 90 seconds from the opening ring to the callback ring.
What they were dropping is a coagulant. Forget the name offhand but it stuck to everything to that radioactive dust wouldn't fly around.
I love the fact that folks your age are finding out that the history you are seeing- some of us lived through. I was 10 when this happened, and my Mom made darn sure we were aware of what was happening. The Cold War years were a different time for many
You guys see the young Putin in the library? Back when he was KGB.
he worked in East Germany)
@@takida7258 I know; I figured it wasn't really meant to be him, he just looked like him.
Just came across your channel because of Chernobyl, but I love your content so far. You have an awesome personality, and you totally geek out just like me so that's perfect. And you love Bioshock too, which is amazeballs. Loving the channel so far!
To answer your question, the accident happened in 1986. 1988 what when Valery committed suicide. If you're interested in this era of the cold war, I would recommend checking out The Americans! It's a fictional series, but it has a lot of historical context from this era. Plus it's a great show! Love the reactions! Keep it up!!
I would recommend 'Manhunt: Unabomber' on Netflix. It is very good.
"You're done, comrade."
That roof scene was intense.
7:38 it isn't just the "food" they are getting rid of, it's about 1ft of topsoil they removed from the majority of the exclusion zone.
7:46 They are dropping a chemical substance which is essentially glue. It is to glue the radioactive dust particles to whatever surface they have settled upon in order to prevent the wind from picking them up and carrying them off.
10:28 Some of it was pushed off the edge back into the maw of the reactor (mostly in zone Misha) The rest was dumped off the edge into ditches dug at the base of the wall which was then concreted and buried over with dirt.
16:00 The true cost of this accident in human suffering is incredible and largely remains unacknowledged by the official position of the worlds government. The real fact is around 1 million people have suffered cancers, deaths, and severely ill health. There is a congenital heart defect in newborns in Belarus called "Chernobyl Heart" as a direct result of contamination. And that's not even covering the 100s of serious birth mutations this has caused.
Why are you bringing up conspiracy theories? No need for that.
There was a visible spike thyroid cancer indicence with children. Luckily, that's one of the easiest cancers to treat.
The prognosis gives some 4000 deaths will occur due to radionuclides emitted. It's math, public health, statistics, biophysics. Nobody made up those numbers and there is no covering up anymore.
"what is the value of a life?" "what is the cost of lies?" "what are YOU prepared to do to save the lives of millions?"
Great work........keep it up. a lot of people died, the soviet union just didn't admit it because......oh well we know why they didn't. Things didn't happen in the soviet union.........according to the soviet union.
Extra bit of horror: I hear that one of those puppies was still alive when the load was dumped into the hole. The soldiers had run out of ammo and couldn't reload before the concrete had already covered the dogs.
So it was, in any case, it is written in the book from which the character of Pavel was taken
Band of Brothers is an AMAZING miniseries from HBO that I highly recommend
I was 21 years old when this happened. I had just gotten out of the army and had come home from Turkey where I was stationed right on the coast of the Black Sea. So where I was at was just about two or three hundred miles from Chernobyl. I remember I had been home for about a month when it happened.
In Soviet Russia, the child saves mother.
Even a child is imbued with the spirit of socialism.
I got a bit more than a page and a half, but my middle school taught Russian, and I lived in Kennewick, WA, very near the Hanford site. We learned about radiological incidents.
There is a great history/comedy podcast called The Dollop that did an episode about the history of Hanford and all I can say is YIKES.
Your'e 34??? I was giving you 20-22.
Brief explanation to those not understanding the power structure of the soviet union
Central Committee : Executive Branch, Gorbachev's Inner Circle. They set policy and run the Soviet Union with Gorbachev in charge, can make declarations and enforce laws regarding official soviet policy. Mikhail
Gorbachev, the Chairman of the Central Committee, would be equivalent to the President.
Council of Ministers : Logistics and Legislative, they can make declarations and enforce laws regarding distribution of labor and materials. The Chairman of the Council of Ministers is known as the "Premiere of the Soviet Union" Who at this time is Nikolai Ryzhkov, equivalent to Prime Minister.
The two offices were separated after Khrushchev was deposed. He was the last Soviet Chairman and Premiere
Both names are mentioned when Shcherbina smashes the phone in the office. @10:56
"She did this to herself." It isn't completely her fault, but it was the system that failed her, her husband, the other victims, and even the medical personnel dealing with the fallout. Back then the government didn't release much information to its own people on the incident so no one knew how bad it was. She explained later that the doctors also let her through, so if you trusted in medical pros who are caring for your husband and if they let you go ahead, then going to comfort her dying husband isn't a surprise. It's sad, and it's an easy thing to blame her, but she was just a person who wasn't given any information. And she wasn't the only one who experienced this - many people weren't told and they all suffered too. It was widespread.
For a historical miniseries I suggest from the earth to the moon it is an HBO miniseries from the late 90's. It covers the entire Apollo space program. It is kind of hard to find though.
Fucking finally someone else whos watched series
Slaughtering occurs: "I can not watch this oooo"
Liquidators clean the roof: "Ooooooh, I can not watch it too"
Cutting off your nose to spite your face. Couldn't have summed up the Soviet response better. Subscribed.
DAY ONE
On September 1, 1986 a German robot "Joker" broke down. With a lot of difficulties this robot was installed in the most dangerous zone "M". Local robots were unable to work there. High hopes were placed on "Joker". It was the last argument that people should not be used for decontamination. But the robot "sat down" on the graphite block and was stuck there. Our hero with two other subordinates came out to the roof coating into the zone of high radioactivity to pull off "the Fritz" with the help of winch. They managed to do this but...
th-cam.com/video/jV45AFCwcUc/w-d-xo.html
We called it "Social Studies "
I think we called it that until high school then they tried to get fancy with it. US History and World History. Thanks for watching!
I very much doubt it. There had never been a need for machinery which could operate in 12,000 Rgns of radiation before. It possibly could have been created, but time was a factor, otherwise the Soviet Union would have been able to produce it itself. The Soviet Union had less money, and a lower standard of living, but all kinds of basic needs were free, or virtually free, including housing, healthcare and education, so 800 Rbs would have gone that much further.
What really got me with this episode was the fact that they used 3828 men to clear the roof, and the general just had those few left standing at the end.
If you can find the Terror mini series give it a try.
You are the second person to suggest the Terror. So it is DEFINITELY going on my list! Thank you for watching!
@@ManicMeeks I’m watching the Terror at the moment and it’s astonishing! Based on a true story too.
I still can't believe that we didn't learn more about this in school! Like, I live in Canada and we mostly learned about World Wars and Canadian history.
By the way, I love that you do research on the events to compare to the show. I thought I was one of the few! Love the videos!
It almost happened here in the U.S. in the 70s at Three Mile Island.
Alright, you said Gundam, now I gota sub. You win girl, you win this day.
I was in Europe and Downwind of this when it happened. We couldn't eat
or drink any dairy or egg from the Economy. We drank a lot of powdered milk and
ate powdered eggs for a good four months. Chernobyl was not the only Soviet
Nuclear Accident and not the worst Soviet Nuclear Accident. Since 1950 the
Soviet Union had 57 land based Nuclear Accidents. The worst of which more than
doubled the release of Chernobyl. These, for the most part, were in desolate
places and closed cities in Siberia and Kazakhstan and not reported. One
accident was in Leningrad/ St. Petersburg! They had releases of weaponized
anthrax among other things that wiped out whole villages. Those villages are no
longer on the map. Welcome to Socialism.
Love your reactions you do such a great job. This episode made me cringe a lot. Even though you never saw them actually kill any of the animals.... my imagination made it so much worse.
Have a heart, lady. She didn't know the first goddamn thing about radiation (like pretty much most ordinary people back then) and her newlywed husband was dying in the most painful way imaginable. Yes, she shouldn't have stayed with him but human beings aren't like robots going BEEP BOOP MUST BE RATIONAL AND LOGICAL ALWAYS at all times.
SentinelTera also she was only 22 years old, too young.. I think she didn’t understand all that had happened (
Thanks for sharing your vids with us.
For so long common folks didn't understand what radiation poisoning would do. Even now, the horror of it all is a learning experience.
07:48 They are dropping dust binders. Radioactive contamination is _dust_ and _aerosols_ . Tiny little particles that are giving off the radiation. So what you want to do is to get the dust and the dirt to _stay put_ and not blow around in the winds. They are dropping things that will (or at least they hope it will) make the contamination drop to the ground and stay there.
LOL - Love your reaction vids! Keep up the great work!
So that black stuff they were dropping out of the helicopters was most likely carbon dust like from ground up charcoal. It wasn't great, but it did help absorb some of the radiation, and at that point, any little bit helped...
There’s a documentary video on TH-cam that is exactly this episode. It is INSANE how closely this episode replicated what happened. Down to the lead armor costumes, the lines delivered, the handshaking scene, the climbing the chimney and placing the flag. All of that was filmed when they actually did it back in 1986
My mom knew a girl who was at the May Day parade in Kiev 1986 few days after the exposition (Nobody cancelled it, why bother) So she was pregnant at that time and right after the parade she’d moved to south of the country. Unfortunately her baby was born dead and covered in burns... they said her baby absorbed all of the radiation. RIP to all those affected in this terrible tragedy.
I just kept telling myself "these animals are already dead. They are walking corpses, this is humane". It didn't help.
The Last Kingdom on Netflix...”Destiny is all”
On the roof. My friend's father was there. 1 minute. Has two childrens. But the older is really some strange. And has some physical issues.
she didnt only cared about vassily. in real life a lot of nurses hesitate to take care of those men. she did.
13:33 - That didn’t work out too well on the _other_ HBO show...
Too soon.
On recommendations: Band of Brothers! Fictional interpretation of an american airborne company during the entirety of WW2. With interviews of the real veterans that are present as characters in the show. Quite historically accurate and definitely the best miniseries ever made in my book.
Read about Lyudmilla Ingatenko's chapter in "Voice of Chernobyl" and the Podcast from HBO. You have to remember the USSR lied to the people about how "safe" radiation was ("The Friendly Atom"). She had no idea radiation was going to be harmful to her or her baby- this is how totalitarian the USSR was and they didn't give a damn if people died. Its sickening to know this could have been prevented. I was angry at her as well; until I read her chapter in that book- then I felt sympathy for her. She lost everything because of the USSR's lack of responsibility.
Also, read about the Radium Girls- this happened here in the US.
Except that's not true at all. soviet civil defense did in fact educate people about dangers of radiation. A lot of households had civil defense handbook, along with the kit. Shit was thought to the factory workers and etc. Obviously there were gaps. Soviet civil defense was short on staff and money so not every household had the gas mask, first aid kit's with iodium, etc. And not every community in USSR had said education/briefing. But generally Soviet union had far better and larger civil defense program then say United states. A simple google search would show that.
@@robertvirabjans9377 true, we lived not in ussr but stil in east block and there were regular exercises even for kids from age of 6. I remember it well. And to me in those Voices from chernobyl, she remembers people explaining it to her in the hospital. Logically, she must have known. She probably just could not think straight in all this disaster.
The accident happened in 1986. Legasov committed suicide in 1988.
This event happened a few months after the Challenger explosion.
There's a documentary called "Chernobyl's Heart" that is about 50 minutes long about the 2nd generation of children being born where most of the surviving Ukrainian Pripyat's residents live. It's going to change how you feel about nuclear power if this didn't.
What I do find fascinating, is that since the accident in 1986 Animals have actually moved back into the exclusion zone and from what I've seen are starting to adapt to the area. Another reactor made mention of the famous dogs of Chernobyl. What I learned is that some of the descendants of those dogs still live in the area.
My god those sudden 20 volume screams hurt my ears
I’m sure you’ve caught in to all this by now but;
The lady who was pregnant, yes she was hardheaded. But, 1: they had no business letting her in there at all. Whether they knew she was pregnant or not. She wasn’t supposed to be there. 2: they didn’t tell her it’s radiation burns, like the doctor applying milk to the burns, she thought they were regular burns. They did not warn her properly and plainly of the danger because they didn’t want it getting out at all. So they treated the entire situation like oh nothing is wrong. Sounds crazy but that’s happened in a lot of catastrophes. Even staff who are risking their lives aren’t fully aware of what’s happening. Only government. And in Soviet Russia, you are told to do it and you do it. You do not ask questions.
This isn’t to say the same sort of disaster couldn’t happen anywhere else, definitely could. But the way their social system works it’s just odd to us. That’s the experience of observing other social groups and cultures. That shit will catch up to you in a disaster. You need people who think for themselves and act and are allowed to act freely. And let information out to be scrutinized for better or worse. Then a lot of this could have been avoided.
Did anyone else think the milk would turn to blood because the cow was infected and the old woman would finally leave?
The old lady stands for a few families who refused to leave. They were left there and there was an interview at the end of the 1990ths that they still feel fine. More families moved into the evacuation zone as capitalism forced them out of work and made them homeless. It's a fantastic story, watch some documentaries especially the one about the Chernobyl Wildlife.
Reactors in capitals countries don't blew up .
@16:55 had me dying! 😂 You went from "I'm against animal cruelty, I don't want them to die violently" immediately to "if I get this gnat imma fuq it up!" And didn't miss a beat, lmao 😂
The huge guy that opened the door and held it open and was bleeding all over also lived until the 21st century
We weren't taught this because it was all covered up! It's not the school systems fault, it's Russia's. The most comprehensive book to come out about it was released this past year. The writer Creator said in the podcast that he wished he had the book Midnight in Chernobyl when he was writing this.
The wife/mother was a real person. Unfortunately her storyline hasn't been dramatized, it's just bugnuts crazy stupid.
I'm watching episode 5 tonight. See you on the other side.
Stumbled on to this channel during your Lovecraft Country reaction video... Your raw emotion has me hooked now. (Subscribe) I'm about to go through all of your videos and share them 💯
Love, love, love your reactions! Keep ‘em coming, girl!💕
First time I heard about Chernobyl was in H.S. '93 or '94 but not from school books. I heard about it in an episode of The X-Files. After that I kept an eye out for any documentaries and only saw one a few yrs later. It was many years ago, so I didn't remember much except no one knew about the severity and all they mentioned was the cancer. This however, jeez!
Me: Okay, I sat through the firefighters with the horrifying deformed skin....how bad can this be-
Puppies:
Me: (leaves the room)
Apparently 800 rubles was a nice bit of money back in '86. Here's the skinny: www.quora.com/What-could-you-buy-with-800-rubles-in-Russia-in-1986
Now I listened to real liquidators reaction about the series, one of them told that he saw an animal , really really bad shape , almost not recognizable , and it was a cat . He said it was a terrible sight . From radiation :( So in a way it was a humane thing to do - kill the animals before such suffering.
My vegan brain wonders why people rightfully mourn this episode and then sit down and eat animals.
This lady likes metro, doom and chernobyl!
How can some one be sooo good? LOL
They were dropping compounds that would dampen the radiation. I'm unsure what it was, but I do remember reading they had a couple different solutions they used. They dropped it from helicopters over the M-zone rooftop where men spent 90 seconds each, throwing debris from the reactor back into the core chamber.
Joker is buried in a corner of the vehicle cemetery, unceremoniously. It is still very.. VERY radioactive.
Apparently, the scene with the puppies was in reference to a real account, where liquidators discovered a pup had survived in the shipment to the burial site. They wanted to kill it, but they had run out of bullets.. So yeah.. that's depressing.
The men who climbed the stack to fly the red flag were exposed to a lot of radiation, as the core was still open. They were rewarded with a bottle of pepsi and a day off. :D
Oh and also, props to you for the Doom shirt.
Well you would have to purchase US Dollars on the black market. There was no official exchange rate. But to get you an idea in 1986, 800 Rubles could be unofficially exchanged for $30 dollars.