On April 26th, 1986 a turbine failure occurs in block 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

April 24, 2020 (WELT documentary)  On April 26th, 1986 a turbine failure occurs in block 4 of the "Lenin" - Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Six seconds after the emergency shut off it comes to a worst case scenario situation (super MCA), the core meltdown. The block explodes and immediately releases about 25 percent of radioactivity. The remainder passes through the environment over the next 14 days. Ukraine, Belarus and Russia are affected the most by the radioactive rain and fallout. Entire cities are contaminated. Official numbers estimate 58 radiation deaths and up to 4,000 dead as a long-term consequence; other studies such as the ones of Greenpeace, estimate to 270,000 additional cases of cancer and up to 93,000 deaths in the directly affected regions, all as a late up result of the Chernobyl disaster. Due to the high radiation levels right on the destroyed reactor, rescue workers can only stay up to 70 seconds; fauna and flora are contaminated to such an extent that they have to be leveled to the ground with remote-controlled devices. Chernobyl becomes a death zone. Due to the strong winds from the East, the Chernobyl disaster affected many areas in Western and Northern Europe, pushing the fallout far into Europe. Fresh milk and garden foods, meadows and fields were inaccessible to humans and animals for months.

Ukraine developing new missile system for combat helicopters

April 24, 2020 (UNIAN) Ukraine is developing the latest high-precision missile system, which will be installed on upgraded Mi-8MSB-V helicopters. This is a new guided missile, RK-10, which will work with the OPSN-1 most-advanced optical sighting guidance station, as reported by Defense Express. The development of a new missile with a range of 10 km is nearing completion, and it will replace the Barrier-V system with a range of 8 km. The new missile will be used as part of a high-precision missile system of Ukrainian helicopters. All components of the missile are also made in Ukraine.

Quarantine Puzzle

April 20, 2020 I photographed this rubbish bin today a hundred meters from the Poltava Regional Administration. It seems to me that it is unlikely that my Swedish friends will be able to answer the question: why is this heavy concrete bin tied to a tree with an iron chain and check-lock?

The whole secret is that the concrete bin contains an iron basket inside, which the cleaners empty when it is full of garbage. This iron basket can be handed over to the scrap collection point and bring someone income of 10 UHR (3 SEK) for it. So for many poor people, this is a good way to replenish their empty wallets....

Unfortunately, the city authorities of Poltava could not protect the monument to the soldiers of Charles XII who died in the Battle of Poltava from local vandals. All chains from this monument were stolen several years ago and the question of its restoration remains open.

Ukrainian officials: Fires out near the Chernobyl nuclear plant

April 14, 2020 (AP)  Ukrainian emergency officials said Tuesday they have extinguished forest fires in the radiation-contaminated area near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant but acknowledged that grass was still smoldering in some areas. Hundreds of firefighters backed by aircraft have been battling several forest fires around Chernobyl for the past 10 days. They contained the initial blazes, but new fires raged closer to the decommissioned plant. Emergencies Service chief Mykola Chechetkin reported to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that rains helped firefighters put out the flames, but acknowledged that it would take a few more days to extinguish smoldering grass.

In this photo taken from the roof of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant late Friday, April 10, 2020, a forest fire is seen burning near the plant inside the exclusion zone. Ukrainian firefighters are laboring to put out two forest blazes in the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power station that was evacuated because of radioactive contamination after the 1986 explosion at the plant.

Rescuers who put out a fire in the Chernobyl zone (foto Facebook)

Wildfires edge closer to Chernobyl nuclear plant

13 April 2020 (BBC) Forest fires that have been burning for several days in northern Ukraine are now no more than a few kilometers from the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear plant and where the most dangerous waste from the plant was stored. Greenpeace said the fires were much bigger than the authorities realized. The NGO's Russia branch, quoted by Reuters, said the largest fire covered 34,000 hectares, while a second fire just a kilometer from the former plant was 12,000 hectares in area. It is said that if the fire engulfed Pripyat it would be an economic disaster, as supervised tourist visits provided valuable revenue. In 2018 more than 70,000 people visited the town. Last year that figure was even higher, after the success of an HBO mini-series about the disaster.

Police said the fire had been burning since the weekend of 4 April, after a man set fire to dry grass near the exclusion zone. It has since moved closer to the nuclear plant. More than 300 firefighters with dozens of pieces of special hardware are reportedly working at the site, while six helicopters and planes are attempting to extinguish the fire from above. Officials say radiation in the area is at "normal" levels.

Chernobyl nuclear power station and the nearby town of Pripyat have been abandoned since 1986 when the plant’s No. 4 reactor blew up. The explosion sent a cloud of radioactive fallout across much of Europe, with the area immediately around the plant worst affected. 

People are forbidden from living within 18 miles (30km) of the power station. Chernobyl continued to generate power until the plant's last operational reactor was finally closed in 2000.

Prime Minister of Ukraine met with Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors of Northern and Baltic countries in Ukraine

April 8, 2020 (gov.ua) Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met with Ambassadors of the Northern and Baltic countries to Ukraine, in particular, Mr. Tobias Thyberg, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Sweden to Ukraine; Mr. Ole T. Horpestad, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Norway to Ukraine; Ms. Päivi Laine, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Finland to Ukraine; Mr. Kaimo Kuusk Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Estonia to Ukraine; Mr. Tadas Valionis, Temporary Representative for the Lithuanian Republic in Ukraine, and Mr. Edvīns Severs, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Latvia in Ukraine.

 Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko was also present at the meeting, which took place on Friday, April 3. Denys Shmyhal thanked the diplomats for their support of Ukraine and informed about the steps the Government is taking to curb the spread of the coronavirus infection. In particular, more stringent restrictive measures will be applied in the country from April 6 for the quarantine period. He noted that the decision was based on the experience of European countries. “Coronavirus is a major challenge for the whole world. But we as the Government are not going to change our policy and we will prolong the course of reforms. In particular, it concerns the reforms in the decentralization, public administration and health care sector,” said the Head of Government. The Ukrainian side also raised an issue of the impossibility of weakening the sanction pressure on the Russian Federation through the coronavirus epidemic.

Ukrainian military shoot down invaders’ drone worth $2 mln

April 6, 2020 (UKRINFORM) Ukrainian soldiers holding the line in Svitlodarsk direction, Donetsk region, shot down a Russian-made drone, which belonged to invaders, worth about $2 million. The Joint Forces Operation Headquarters specified that the Bird-Eye 400 drone manufactured in Russia since 2012 had been shot down.

"This fact once again confirms the direct participation of the Russian Armed Forces in the war in eastern Ukraine," the JFO Headquarters noted. The drone was handed over to the experts of special units for studying data on the storage medium.