On December 13, a rally on the occasion of the Day of Honoring the participants of the Chernobyl disaster consequences elimination took place in the square near the Chernobyl Glory Memorial in the Voroshilovsky District of Donetsk. According to the correspondent of the official website of the DPR, to honour the memory of the late liquidators there came their colleagues who directly participated in those events, students, schoolchildren, and representatives of the city public.
“More than thirty years ago, a terrible tragedy occurred that terrified and shocked, without exaggeration, half the world. Huge financial, scientific, and most importantly human resources were dispatched to the counter the Chernobyl disaster. Hundreds of thousands of the best and bravest people struggled with the consequences of the disaster.
More than 30 years have passed, and in the new, young state called the Donetsk People’s Republic, a memorial day was established by the Decree of the Head of the Republic — the Day of Honoring the participants of the Chernobyl disaster consequences elimination. This is a tribute of the new state to the memory to the hundreds of thousands of the best and bravest people who struggled with the disaster. This is a tribute to the 8 thousand residents of Donetsk who, at the cost of their own life and health, managed to tame the deadly reactor and gave a chance for life to new generations, so symbolically standing today with flags around our memorial. It is also a day when one can recall how fragile the world is and how fragile human life is. It must be protected!
Dear surviving liquidators! Thank you so much for your feat, for your dedicated service. We sincerely wish you health, well-being, and joy and happiness to your families. And we bow low to the eternal memory of those who are not alive today!” Olga Makeyeva, Deputy Chairperson of the DPR People’s Council, said.
As Head of the Central Executive Committee of the Donetsk Republic Public Movement, Alexey Muratov, who worked at the nuclear power plant for 10 years, and whose father is a nuclear engineer, a participant of the Chernobyl disaster consequences liquidation, noted at the rally, in Russian culture and national tradition it is important to live for the benefit of people and the world.
“When this terrible tragedy occurred, hundreds of thousands of people, without hesitation, came to eliminate the consequences of this environmental disaster. Many of them are not alive today, having given the most precious thing — their own lives. But their memory is still alive in your hearts!” he said.
Head of Donetsk City Council Alexey Kulemzin emphasized that such rallies are held in order to remember and commemorate the feat of those who are no longer with us.
“We are meeting here in order to look into each other’s eyes. We know each other and live in the same land! I wholeheartledly wish health to our fellow countrymen who are here today. I want no generation to ever have to perform such a feat again. But your feat is so great that it became immortal! All people live as long as they are remembered. We will always remember your feat!” he said.
Participants in the rally laid flowers at the Chernobyl memorial.