More than relics: what resettlers from the Chernobyl zone keep. Resident of an evicted Chernobyl village: “You have to want to live”

We are publishing material that Belarusian journalist Vasily SEMASHKO prepared for the site based on the results of his numerous trips to the Belarusian segment of the Chernobyl zone beyond last years.

The photographs in the text were taken by Vasily Semashko (color) and Sergei Plytkevich (black and white). You can view photos in full size by left-clicking on them.

Polesie Nature Reserve

Belarusian eastern Polesie is part of the largest swamp in Europe, located along the banks of the Pripyat River.

Flat terrain, impassable swamps, partially destroyed by land reclamation in the 1960s-1970s, sandy islands with pine forests, deep Pripyat with countless labyrinths of channels on both banks, where in some places there are natural beaches with amazingly white quartz sand.

Pripyat River flood

The Chernobyl disaster divided life here into “before” and “after”. “Before” - a calm, measured life, when people from Belarusian villages went to Pripyat to go shopping, and some of the Belarusians even worked for Chernobyl nuclear power plant. “After” is what can be seen now.

Plans for the evacuation of the population from the 30-km zone in the event of an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were developed long before the accident, which generally confirmed the correctness of these calculations. The population from this zone was evacuated in the first days of the disaster.

The zone was partially surrounded by a barbed wire fence, and in 1988 it was declared a nature reserve. Judging by the presence of plastic insulators on the wooden posts, an alarm system was provided. The remains of this fence, already fallen down, can still be seen in some places both in Belarus and Ukraine.

Later it became clear that the radioactive fallout was extremely uneven. There are practically clean places in a 30-kilometer zone, and in some places people had to be resettled as far as 150 kilometers away. Because of this, in Belarus the boundaries of the resettlement zone were adjusted until 1992.

Also, when resettling in Belarus, they tried not to touch regional centers and some important roads. As a result, the boundaries of the resettlement zone turned out to be very tortuous. Thus, the border of the restricted zone lay next to the busy Khoiniki-Bragin highway and further along the outskirts of Bragin.

The Polesie State Radiation-Ecological Reserve was organized in 1988 in the Belarusian part of the exclusion zone on the territory of the three regions of the Gomel region that were most affected by the disaster - Braginsky, Khoiniki and Narovlyansky.

On the territory of the reserve there are 96 abandoned settlements, where more than 22 thousand residents lived before the accident. The administration of PGREZ is located in the city of Khoiniki.

Initially, the area of ​​the PGREZ was 1313 km 2 . After the annexation of part of the adjacent resettled territory to it in 1993, the area of ​​the reserve is 2154 km 2, which turned it into the largest in Belarus.

About 30% of the cesium-137, 73% of strontium-90, 97% of plutonium isotopes 238, 239, 240 that fell on the territory of Belarus are concentrated on the territory of the PGREP. The density of soil contamination reaches 1350 Ci/km 2 for cesium-137, 70 Ci/ km 2 - for strontium-90, 5 Ci/km 2 - for isotopes of plutonium and americium-241.

Due to the presence in ecosystems of significant quantities of long-lived isotopes of plutonium and americium, the main territory of the reserve cannot be returned to economic use even in the long term.

In the Polesie State Radiation-Ecological Reserve, 1251 plant species are registered, this is more than two-thirds of the country’s flora, 18 of them are listed in the International Red Book and the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus. The fauna includes 54 species of mammals, 25 species of fish, 280 species of birds. More than 40 species of animals are classified as rare and endangered.

The staff of the reserve is about 700 people, 10 of them have an academic degree. Annual costs for the reserve are approximately US$4 million.

Belarusian zone

In the first years after the accident, the main task of the guards was to prevent the looting of the property left behind. At that time, people did not realize the full significance of the disaster and hoped to return to their homes by the fall.

Initially, the checkpoint in the restricted zone was manned by police officers sent here on a two-week business trip, for whom this business trip turned into a two-week binge. Later, they were replaced by reserve staff from local residents, and order became a little better. Local police are also involved in protecting the reserve - their cars have a radiation hazard sign.

It was the Chernobyl disaster that became the impetus in Belarus for the founding of the Ministry of emergency situations. In 1990-1991, the BSSR State Committee on Problems of the Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Disaster (Goskomchernobyl of the BSSR) was created, which in 1995 was reorganized into the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Protection of the Population from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Disaster.

In 1998, the words “and protection of the population from the consequences of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant” in the name “Ministry of Emergency Situations” were abolished, and the State Committee for Chernobyl became part of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

In 2001, for some reason, the State Committee for Chernobyl was separated from the Ministry of Emergency Situations into a separate structure under the Council of Ministers of Belarus, and then in 2006 it was returned to the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Now the main task of the reserve is to ensure a state of peace in the zone so that the fallen radionuclides are not transferred to the clean territory.

That is why the reserve operates in closed mode - any species are prohibited in the zone production activities, and in general the presence of strangers there is reduced to a minimum.

The Belarusian Chernobyl zone is divided into the following parts. Closer to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant there is an exclusion zone with the highest level of radiation contamination. All human activity is prohibited in the exclusion zone.

Further from the epicenter there is an evacuation zone. Limited human activity is permitted here. Basically, this is planting forests to prevent wind erosion of the soil and blocking old irrigation canals to swamp the area to reduce the risk of fires.

For the same purpose, geodetic signals, which have become unnecessary with the development of satellite navigation, are brought into the zone from different regions of Belarus, which are used here as observation towers to detect fires.

These towers can also be used as a telephone call point - there is no cellular communication near the ground, but at an altitude of more than 20 meters - it works perfectly in any part of the zone. Moreover, in many places Ukrainian mobile operators are also caught.

Sometimes poachers visit the zone. Every year there are fewer and fewer of them - fines have increased significantly, the practice of confiscation of vehicles has begun, and security has begun to work better.

Unlike Ukraine, where so-called “Chernobyl tourism” is developed - organized excursions to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and visits to Pripyat - there is no such thing in Belarus, and there are no plans yet.

Those who need it for work, including journalists (not all), and also for the purpose of burying the deceased in their native places, are allowed into the zone with special permission. However, once a year anyone can visit the zone, as described below.

Babchin

If in the Ukrainian part Chernobyl zone There are relatively large cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat, a railway, then in Belarus there are only villages in which there were not even churches.

If in Ukraine the central entrance to the Chernobyl zone is the Dityatki checkpoint, then in Belarus it is the Babchin checkpoint, 20 kilometers from Khoiniki.

The scientific laboratories of the reserve are located here, as well as a hotel for scientific personnel, a fleet of vehicles for work in the zone.

A variety of animals and plants capable of surviving in this climatic zone were brought into the reserve under strict protection - a kind of “Noah’s Ark”, where scientists conduct research, studying life in conditions of increased background and minimal human intervention. The value of such research is unique; there is no other place like it on Earth.

Movement in the zone is carried out along several routes. highways, who are looked after by the administration.

The remaining roads have fallen into disrepair over more than a quarter of a century, not without the help of the reserve’s workers in order to prevent outsiders from entering. So, on some liquidated roads there is a chance to run into specially hidden harrows with their teeth pointing up - a surprise for poachers.

But the existing roads in the zone are asphalted and in good condition. Their distinguishing feature- lack of markings.

Chernobyl bison

A few kilometers from Babchin to the center of the zone there is another checkpoint with the Ukrainian name “Maidan”. There is a bison sanctuary located nearby.

After the creation of the reserve, bison were brought here from Belovezhskaya Pushcha, and over the following years they multiplied several times. In the Chernobyl bison sanctuary there is a fenced-off forester’s house, around which forest dwellers gather in winter.

About the sad

All villages in the zone have long been plundered. They were robbed mainly by former residents, some of whom were resettled to nearby relatively clean places.

They robbed us gradually. When the population was evacuated in 1986, they explained that they would return home in a few months. Families often left with small bags, leaving their homes and possessions behind the protection of a padlock and a paper sticker stamped by the local police.

Some settled nearby in Khoiniki or Bragin, others - 400 kilometers away in the north of Belarus, and some were carried to the Moscow region.

Later, those who settled near the Chernobyl zone had the opportunity, legally or not, to remove their property from there. Along the way, they also seized the neighbors' property.

Thus, a resident of Khoiniki, talking about Chernobyl displaced people and pointing to houses, explained: “This woman took a dozen bicycles from there, that woman dragged chandeliers, from that house she dragged several refrigerators and televisions...”.

10-15 years after the disaster, home-cooked wines could be seen in the cellars of abandoned villages. Now they are gone too.

Some houses manage to remove the galvanized sheet from the roof. And what remains of the situation is something that is of no practical value to the local population.

Closer to the center of the zone, houses were looted a little less. The remains of the situation show when life ended here - newspapers from the first days of May 1986 with holiday congratulations from the CPSU Central Committee, vodka bottles with a price of 5 rubles were left in the houses. 30 kopecks, glass bottles of milk, Pepsi-Cola, etc.

It was very interesting to find abandoned photographs, and sometimes negative black and white films, which recorded the life of the village.

From items folk life I often come across ceramic jugs, and in the pantry I once saw bast shoes and a skein of bast.

Museum

The resettled villages are marked with memorial stones indicating the name, the number of people living there and the time of resettlement.

On their own initiative, the staff of the reserve made an excellent museum in Babchyn from household items. It’s a pity that it is formally located in a restricted area, and you can’t visit it without a special pass.

Chernobyl cemeteries

If the villages in the zone are dead, then some cemeteries are active. They bury those who once lived in these places. Once a year, several days on Radunitsa - the day of remembrance of the dead - is a day off in Belarus; cemeteries in the zone are open to free visits from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

When entering the checkpoint, the data of the driver, his car, the number of passengers is copied and, according to the driver, the name of the former is written down. settlement, where the car is heading.

The latter is done for the safety of visitors. If something happens to the car, the administration will know where to look. Cellular communications in the zone at human heights are practically ineffective.

These days, employees of the reserve, the police and the Ministry of Emergency Situations are on duty at the cemeteries of large villages, whose main task is to monitor fire safety.

Formally, during the days of Radunitsa, it is allowed to visit only cemeteries without the right to walk around the abandoned village. But in reality, the days of Radunitsa are the only opportunity for most people to see the Belarusian Chernobyl zone.

The reserve's staff constantly maintains military graves in order. Moreover, in this matter they go a little overboard - they decorated the sculptural compositions with colored paints, which is why the monuments began to resemble giant children's toys.

When leaving the zone - dosimetric control vehicle. If the background level is exceeded, the car is sent to the reserve's car wash. Another inspection of the trunk - it is prohibited to take anything out of the area. However, everything valuable was removed long ago.

On Radunitsa, in the cemeteries of abandoned villages, those who once lived here gather, and who are now scattered across different parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. Others have not seen each other for a quarter of a century. Someone brings children, or even grandchildren, showing them the huts where they once lived, and where only distant generations will be able to live safely.

I remember how a man took his granddaughter around the khmyznyak, telling him that here was the main street of the village of Borshchevka. Showing the looted house, he said that her grandmother lived here. Entering another looted house, wiping away a tear, I remembered how, as a child, I loved to lie on this stove.

And when from some house I brought a man a marriage certificate with a photograph of a girl, he beamed: “I once courted her!”

Krasnoselye

For more than a quarter of a century in the forbidden zone, nature returned to its original state without human intervention.

Rural courtyards are overgrown with weeds so that in summer the houses are practically invisible. On the road you can often see wild boars, roe deer, foxes, wolves, and moose. There are a lot of snakes and vipers.

Here I noticed an interesting feature - storks do not settle in uninhabited villages. From the territory of Ukraine, where poachers had more freedom due to weak security, several Przewalski horses, which were once brought to Ukraine, moved to Belarus across the Pripyat River.

But no one has seen the famous Chernobyl mutants with which “couch travelers” like to scare people.

When I talked about this topic with biologists of the reserve, they said that under conditions of increased radiation, some organs in animals begin to work differently. When asked whether it was good or bad, they answered that it was neither good nor bad, but simply different.

The closer to the epicenter of the zone, the higher the radiation level. If at the border of the zone in Babchin the radiometer shows about 50 μR/h, then in the area of ​​the village of Krasnoselye it is about 200 μR/h, and in some places up to 1000 μR/h.

Krasnoselye is located on a small sandy hill near Pripyat. On the hill there is a geodetic signal, from where in the distance you can see the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and several high-rise buildings in the city of Pripyat, which are 23 kilometers away.

There is a warning sign at this location indicating high levels of plutonium contamination. Plutonium-241 gradually decays into americium-241, which is highly soluble in water.

Standing on the observation deck of a 30-meter tower and surveying the vast plain, unsuitable for human life in the coming centuries, which was made by such a power unit barely visible on the horizon, you begin to realize that the peaceful atom is not a toy.

Masanas

Masany was the name of a small village on the very border with Ukraine, which runs along the edge of the village. Before the disaster, 21 families lived here. The Nazis tried to destroy Masan during the war, killing almost all the inhabitants. The village survived the war.

Once upon a time, some residents rode bicycles to work at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant or to Pripyat. From Masanov to the fourth power unit there are no more than 14 kilometers. If decontamination took place near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with the removal of the top layer of soil, then in the Masanov area the hot particles remained untouched. It has one of the highest levels of radiation pollution on planet Earth.

And it was here in 1994 that it was decided to create a scientific station to monitor the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A preserved house was chosen, the top layer of soil was removed from the surrounding area, and clean soil was brought in its place. A water well was drilled and conditions were created for a relatively safe life. A meteorological site was also built.

With the closure of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the priority of the Masany station became observation of flora and fauna. The area surrounding Masana very successfully combines everything existing features Belarusian Polesie: near the Pripyat River with small channels and coastal lakes, swamps, low sand dunes, pine and deciduous forests, a field.

Constantly in Masany on a rotational basis Two scientists live 10-12 days a month. Despite having their own well, they prefer to use imported water.

Previously, the village of Masany received electricity from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Now the station is powered by solar panels and a gas generator. Electricity is mainly needed for lighting, running a small TV, radio station and laptops. Due to the low power supply, all equipment and lighting at the station are switched to 12 V.

In addition to scientists, a dog and a cat permanently live at the station. They are periodically visited by wild boars and other wild animals.

Employee Andrey Razdorskikh

From the observation tower, especially in the afternoon, the buildings of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the houses of Pripyat, and the huge receiving antenna of the abandoned Chernobyl-2 over-the-horizon station are clearly visible. At night, in a dark, uninhabited area, the glow of lighting above the Chernobyl nuclear power plant looks especially bright.

And among other things, the observation tower in Masany serves as a place to access the Internet - a kind of “high-level” Internet cafe, where you have to climb with a laptop.

Conditions for scientific station The masans are unique, and so is the humor.

The paths along which employees often move are paved with wooden flooring. On the porch in front of the entrance to the house there is a depression with water for washing off dust from shoes.

The background here is one of the highest in the Chernobyl zone, higher than next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The fact is that the territory immediately adjacent to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was thoroughly decontaminated. The contaminated soil is buried and clean soil is brought in its place. The same is done with asphalt. The high background near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant produces gamma radiation penetrating through the walls of the “shelter object” - the sarcophagus.

And at a distance of several kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, hot particles of the reactor contents remained untouched in the upper layer of soil. In other places in Masany, my radiometer showed 5000 microR/h.

The record background, according to scientists - I did not go to measure it myself - is 15,000 microR/h a few hundred meters from the research station near a dried out small oak tree, where a microscopic hot particle lies. This oak tree is well known to Belarusian radiologists who visit the zone. And in the first days after the disaster in the nearest villages, the background was much higher.

One of the scientists once said that when he really wanted fresh fish, despite its high radioactivity, he caught it in a small lake. Due to the fact that strontium-90 is not excreted from the body, it was necessary to carefully clean it from the bones where strontium accumulates.

The fish exceeds the norm for cesium-137 by tens or even hundreds of times. But cesium is well removed from the body, especially by consuming pectin. The lover of fresh fish had to rely on marshmallows and marmalade for two weeks.

If you bring elk antlers from these places, scientists advise covering them with varnish. When asked, they are surprised: “Is it really not clear? The horns are full of strontium, which produces beta radiation, and it is reduced in this way.” How did you not guess this yourself? However, for greater safety, experts advise keeping such horns at a distance of one and a half meters from you.

Tulgovichi

The village of Tulgovichi, Khoiniki district, has long become a landmark and place of pilgrimage for filming journalists.

The village is located more than 50 kilometers from the nuclear power plant and was resettled in 1991. But eight, mostly elderly residents, refused to leave their homes. The authorities did not insist.

The village has a working power line, a wired telephone connection, a car shop comes here once a week, a postal car bringing pensions, and their doctor regularly visits them.

Legally, that part of a large village where people live is not a Chernobyl zone forbidden for free access. Also, formally, residents of Tulgovich do not have the right to leave their “island” without the appropriate pass.

To visit Tulgovich, relatives of the “aboriginals” living there also have to obtain passes. And the villagers themselves don’t go out much - their age shows, leading an ordinary village life - they work in vegetable gardens, tend to livestock, fish on a small river flowing through the village, or go fishing in Pripyat.

Grandfather Ivan Shemenok became famous for making excellent moonshine, which the reserve’s employees regularly bought from him, and in such quantities that the management of the reserve had to fine his grandfather.

In Tulgovichi, I had a chance to see domestic pigs grazing among abandoned houses; judging by their thick fur and large fangs, one of the parents was a wild animal.

About 10 years ago Orthodox priest from Khoiniki he tried to make a church out of an empty house in Tulgovichi. The candlestick replaced a basin of sand, the icons were from the printing house, and the towels were local.

Due to the small number of parishioners, the temple did not provide income; it was inconvenient for the priest from Khoiniki to travel here. As a result, the church was empty.

The background radiation in Tulgovichi is about 100 microR/h, with the norm being 20-25. This is not much for the Chernobyl zone. Food products grown here and the meat of local animals are above the norm, but this does not prevent visiting relatives from taking away local delicacies “from their grandfather.”

During the post-Chernobyl years, the population of Tulgovich decreased by two people. In 10-15 years this village will become non-residential.

In 2013, the population of Tulgovichi decreased to three people. - Approx. website.

Borschevka and Dronki

And these are photographs from the village of Borshchevka. In the photo with snakes there is a common and rare black viper.

And now - the village of Dronki. This woman saw her home for the first time in more than 20 years. The house has no roof, it was stolen.

Radunitsa in Dronki. The graves in this area are decorated with towels. Firefighters make sure that there are no fires on this day.

About the present and the future

Several more people formally live on the territory of the Chernobyl zone, but these are in villages bordering the zone. In the late 1980s - early 1990s, during the turbulent times of the collapse of the USSR and interethnic conflicts, many empty houses on the outskirts of the Chernobyl zone were inhabited by refugees from many regions of the former USSR.

Then the authorities did not pay attention to the legality of residence - the village needed workers. Among these refugees there were many good specialists, including doctors.

The mysterious self-settlers secretly living in abandoned villages deep in the Belarusian part of the Chernobyl zone do not exist. It’s enough to look at the condition of those houses to understand that you won’t live there for long.

Only a professionally trained person can live secretly for a long time in the depths of a zone without power supply, without roads, taking serious measures to conceal himself, but older people cannot do this.

Otherwise, Robinson will be deported very quickly by the reserve's guards. And it’s easier to hide from the state in other places than in a protected area, where the smoke of a fire immediately attracts the attention of the guards.

The probable future of the Belarusian part of the Chernobyl zone seems like this. In some places the area will be reduced due to a decrease in the background. After a quarter of a century of desolation, fields are being plowed up near the very border of the zone; in adjacent villages, abandoned houses are completely demolished using the “green lawn” option according to the improvement program.

More polluted places will remain uninhabited for many generations.

Masao Yoshida died of esophageal cancer at age 58.

It's no secret that in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone there are really a lot of interesting places for visiting. Moreover, starting in the fall of this year, permission from the Chernobyl-2 military camp was added to the already favorite places. However, among all the objects of the ChEZ, there are places that stand apart from all the others. They're just different. Here special atmosphere, which includes a symbiosis of abandonment and the invisible presence of man, the color of Polesie and the struggle of Nature for the once taken away lands, silence and dense thickets. It is here, more than anywhere else, that you can feel the tragedy of people who, due to circumstances, were forced to leave their homes. Such mysterious and unique, colorful and extraordinary villages of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
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The villages of the ChEZ will always be kept apart from other objects of the Exclusion Zone. If, for example, in Pripyat, immediately after the accident, personal belongings and furniture in houses were disposed of, then many items left by local residents in the houses of their villages have remained there since 1986. This is probably what makes the villages of the Exclusion Zone so beautiful. It's like an extraordinary museum Soviet village, which is in disrepair. Besides this, there is a unique nature here, which only adds color to the overall picture of perception from trips to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This material contains photographs of ChEZ villages taken during trips to the Zone this year. The filming took place in the villages of Zalesye, Kopachi, Ilintsy, Yampol.
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House in the village of Zalesye, April 2013.
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Local store. Like most of the houses in Zalesie, the building is very overgrown.
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Local recreation center.
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Houses are being destroyed, the area is overgrown, iron is rusting, but Soviet propaganda slogans are true to their ideals and are not going to change their appearance.
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School in the village of Ilyintsy.
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School corridor, second floor.
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"Stalker" artifact at school. Unlike the third school in Pripyat, these items are practically not found here.
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Soldier's boot. I wonder what a boot can do in a rural school? :)
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School gym. Compared to the Pripyat gyms in schools, they have even been preserved quite well.
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April flood of the Uzh River in the village of Yampol. In mid-March, Ukraine was literally covered by abnormal snowfalls. The April sun mercilessly destroyed the snow. As a result, the surrounding area was flooded, and the rivers of the ChEZ overflowed their banks.
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Thanks to the sun and melt waters, such beauty was revealed to our eyes.
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Half-flooded Yampolsk huts.
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The village of Yampol at the end of August.
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Newspaper "Rural Herald" for April 25, 1986. A little less than a day before the Chernobyl accident...
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Vodka "Wheat"
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Kindergarten in the village of Kopachi, January 2013.
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Doll. Probably one of the main attributes of a kindergarten. As, indeed, are the habits of many photographers to take staged photographs with dolls in the frame, thereby symbolizing the entire horror of the Chernobyl tragedy.
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The most sinister doll that I came across during all 6 trips to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
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The village of Ilyintsy.
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Such a motorcycle lies in one of the houses.
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Photographs are silent witnesses of the era.
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Map of the Mandatory Relocation Zone in Ilyintsy.
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Soviet gramophone records "Melody"
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It's really quiet and peaceful here.

Abandoned garment factory former club, a school, a kindergarten, a village that “moved” with its entire population... There are no signs that people fled in a hurry - this is a targeted resettlement zone, where they lived and worked in the early nineties. For several years they tried to overcome the radiation by washing the roofs of houses and cutting off the top layers of soil. But the radiation still won – the houses were empty.

TUT.BY visited the resettlement and exclusion zone in the Chechersky district of the Gomel region. The density of pollution there – 15 to 40 curies per square kilometer, in some areas – higher.

“The collective farm bosses learned about the accident through the Voice of America.”

These days, in Radunitsa, in the resettlement and exclusion zone it is probably noisy - remember your ancestors here. For several days you can enter the territory without a pass, then the barrier at the checkpoint at the entrance is lowered again. We visited there in early April, when the area was completely quiet.

The resettled lands here occupy more than 24.6 thousand hectares, and this is a fifth of the Chechersky district. Before Chernobyl, there were strong collective farms here, and there was even a garment factory in one of the villages.

– When the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, my friend and I were walking to the bus, – An employee of the Administration of Exclusion and Resettlement Zones tells TUT.BY journalists Alexander Pipko. – I was still studying at a vocational school then. We walked through the stadium and saw a wall of dust. We returned to the school building, waited, and left. Then we went to practice in a neighboring area, where the collective farm bosses learned about the accident through the Voice of America. They came and said that a nuclear power plant exploded in Chernobyl. Well, then, a few days later, we had messages too.

In the first years they hoped to get by with less bloodshed – In all private farmsteads, courtyards of schools and kindergartens, the top part of the soil was removed. The buildings were treated with a special compound. They began to evict people from here only when it became clear that the level of pollution in the entire area was too high to remain. But thanks to that decontamination, there is noticeably less “fonit” in the former farmsteads.

Buried villages. "This is the strip – there was a village, Krasnoe"

Total under the control of the Administration of exclusion and resettlement zones in the Chechersky district – 32 resettled villages. Some of them have been buried in recent years.

– This strip - there was a village, Krasnoe, – Administration employees point somewhere away from the road.

In addition to Krasnoe, the village of Lukomskie Poplavy was partially buried and almost the entire – Rudnya-Dudichskaya. Money for the burial of villages in the resettled zone is allocated under a special state program.

– The fact is that the remains of buildings still attract citizens who are trying to dismantle them and use them either for their own purposes or for sale. Brick, concrete bases, blocks– something that can be transported not with large equipment, but with passenger cars. Burying the remains of buildings will prevent such facts, – explains the deputy head of the Gomel Regional Administration of exclusion and resettlement zones Alexander Pershko.

However, it is quite legal to remove the remains of buildings with the permission of local executive committees. For example, dilapidated farms and structural parts can be reused on the farm. If a sanitary inspection shows that the level radioactive contamination future building materials are acceptable.

The wall of a former garment factory in a resettled area. The building had a dual purpose. In case of war, it could be converted into a hospital in a matter of days. During decontamination after the Chernobyl accident, military personnel lived in the factory building

– The chairman of one farm wanted to take away the slabs from one of the administrative buildings for reuse,– recalls a representative of the Administration of the Exclusion and Resettlement Zone of the Chechersky District Grigory Gerashchenko. – No matter how much they measured– The level of pollution is still there. He brought the sanitation station and paid money for the examination. They explain to him: it’s impossible, it’s overpriced. He: “Oh, it’s so overpriced, look how many days it’s been raining- washed away a long time ago." Dear, such snow has been falling for almost 30 years- and no way, and you say that the rain will wash it away!

Photo of the Sebrovichi High School class, 1967. It seems that the Chernobyl disaster occurred during these guys’ adult years. Sebrovichi was a rich village. They say that its inhabitants all moved together to another place, somewhere near Gomel, and recreated their former Sebrovichi way of life there.

It is recommended to plant forests on the site of buried villages and former fields. Last year, 300 hectares of forest were planted near the resettled village of Shepotovichi. This year they want to sow more.

One of the cemeteries in the resettled area. During Radunitsa, cemeteries are transformed. Specialists from the Administration of Exclusion and Resettlement Zones say: there is a program for the improvement of local cemeteries. In recent years, many people have replaced old wooden fences with reinforced concrete ones. They look neat and don’t age so quickly

Revived fields

- This is a rehabilitated field - it’s clean,- they show us. – But across the road there is more than 15 curies of pollution. Spots– just like radioactive fallout.

The land used for agriculture in the resettled zone of the Chechersky district is about eight thousand hectares. Work to rehabilitate some areas was carried out back in 2008.

– A package of documents is collected, hyprozem takes samples and takes measurements. Documents are submitted to the Department for Elimination of Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident. Lands with low levels of radiation are considered possible for introducing into crop rotation and growing products with acceptable levels of radionuclides. Only certain types of crops can be grown on these lands: sunflower, corn, rapeseed. They are mainly used as livestock feed.– says Grigory Gerashchenko.

The last monitoring was carried out in 2012. Not a single hectare of clean land was found either then or later. The specialist adds with a laugh:

– One director came to us - we really need to rehabilitate a piece of land. We say: “So your indicator is too high!” He replies: “So we still cut the corn high- all the radiation is below.” We say: “Is this a concept for you?” heavy metals"means that they are so heavy that they do not rise up, but remain with the root system?".

About metal producers and poachers

Previously, there were three permanent checkpoints in the resettlement zone, but now there is only one left. The rest of the territory is controlled by a mobile post. The fine for being in the resettlement zone without a pass is 10 basic.

“There are still tempting places here for some.” We conduct daily patrols. So, sometimes you leave the car and walk around the village. It also has its advantages. The man, so to speak, “on the lookout” looks out for the car, and you quietly approached on foot. And suddenly you hear the question: “What are you doing here?” He sits himself, prepares metal and asks me why I came, - Grigory Gerashchenko laughs.

Destroyed building kindergarten. They say that once upon a time Japanese specialists came to Chechersk to share their experience. One of the Japanese went down to the basement of the kindergarten (at that time it was not completely filled up), found abandoned children's toys there - and began to cry

Not often, but poachers do occur here. When they are detained, they are also punished under environmental provisions. There are plenty of animals here: local administration specialists have dozens of photographs of moose and roe deer walking through the fields.

The fishermen are causing headaches for the organizations protecting the resettlement zone. We are shown a lake that is connected to the Sozh River. The water in the lake is polluted, but this does not stop fishermen.

In summer, the lake is very picturesque; at one time, a certain enterprising citizen even fought to organize a recreation area here - with gazebos and other amenities. Micro-roentgens did not frighten people. However, as expected, the entrepreneur did not receive permission

– They enter by water from a clear area and penetrate here- They fish and poach. Duck hunting is already open - sometimes they shoot.... But there is a problem. There used to be a base where we could order watercraft. Now interdistrict bases have been reduced, it is no longer possible to attract watercraft as before. We have the main water body in our region– Pripyat– the main focus of patrolling is concentrated there,- say experts. – Fortunately, we are being assisted by the Presidential Inspectorate for the Protection of Flora and Fauna. They have boats and inspectors– they protect their facilities and help us.

Alexander Pershko notes that there are problems with the equipment in the park of the Administration of Exclusion and Resettlement Zones. The one that exists is worn out, and the territories that need to be protected are very large:

– The roads along which our daily patrols travel have long since fallen into disrepair– they also render transport unusable. There is not enough fuel and lubricants. Funds for these purposes are decreasing annually.

The Last of the Mohicans

Experts say that sometimes they are on duty in the contaminated area for several days, with an overnight stay. They say that after such races you begin to feel a dry throat and a mild headache.

However, people still live in three villages in the resettlement zone. There are only six of them in a huge space. We will tell you about one family from the resettlement zone in a separate report.

“A paramedic station comes to them, they bring mail and a pension. The food truck comes twice a week. Orders for household appliances are being fulfilled- They also bring it.Several people are still registered in own homes, – says Alexander Pipko. – In winter we clear the snow. They are not abandoned by us.

And this is a bell and its “tongue”, left after a big fire. In 2002, an ancient church burned down in the village of Rudnya-Dudichskaya. Local residents say that it was built in 1600, but in public reference books there is information about the construction of the first half of the 19th century. In any case, the wooden building was ancient.

Amazing story this bell and the church itself can be read in a few days in a report about life Sofia and Nikolai Klyuchinsky. These are residents of the village of Rudnya-Dudichskaya, who were never able to leave their land.

The place where the church was is carefully fenced

Nails that held the temple together

A cross with a message that a church stood on this site

Despite the fact that in the resettlement zone it is prohibited to collect berries and mushrooms, which accumulate radiation well, in response to our question whether the last residents collect them, Grigory Gerashchenko says:

– The human factor is human. Of course they do. How can you restrain him, how can he not go if he’s right outside his garden?- forest? If he says: I walked when I was a child, I walked when I was young... You can’t pull a wire, you can’t tie a person.

Looking at the map of the Gomel region, you never cease to be amazed at how interesting the border of the resettlement zone as a result of the Chernobyl disaster was drawn. When you drive from Khoiniki to Bragin, it turns out that you cannot live on the right side of the road due to high radiation pollution, but on the left side everything is fine: live and enjoy clean nature. Bragin himself also turned out to be clean, but to the west of the city the evacuation zone is already beginning.

It is prohibited to be in the resettlement zone without appropriate permission - a fine of 10 to 50 basic units is provided. In Bragin, as in neighboring regional centers, part of whose territory falls within the resettlement zone, a monument was erected in memory of the villages that became victims of the nuclear accident.

Among others, Red Mountain is listed there. This village is located two kilometers from Bragin, with right side Khoiniki-Bragin road.

The exit from the road to this village was once blocked by a barrier. As on all roads leading to the resettlement zone, there is a warning sign there. On a roadside boulder it is written in paint that the village of Krasnaya Gora was resettled on September 1, 1986.

In fact, Krasnaya Gora cannot be called an uninhabited village. One family continues to live here. Their house stands out among the others - completely looted. First of all, they tore out floorboards from abandoned houses - in Polesie, floors are often made of oak, then - frames, then - roofing iron. Sometimes log cabins were also taken away. For 23 years, the courtyards were overgrown with thick weeds.

Houses located near the only residential area were slightly less looted. Electricity is supplied to the residential building. Several dogs bark behind a solid fence.

Strangers are greeted with caution here. Residents of “non-residential” villages prefer to hide when strangers appear. It is possible that strangers might even get shot.

Looking from behind the curtain at how I’m filming this village, the inhabitants of the house are finally convinced that I don’t look like a marauder, and they go out onto the road. Ivan Shilets and his wife Vera Shilets.

Please tell them about yourself and the village. Despite the fact that every year many journalists, and sometimes the President of Belarus, travel along the Khoiniki-Bragin road, almost no one looks into Krasnaya Gora.

They cannot be called self-settlers. The family lived here until April 26, 1986. Chernobyl simply divided their lives into “before” and “after” the disaster. Standing among the looted houses of their native village, Ivan and Vera enthusiastically talk about pre-Chernobyl life, remembering how rich their collective farm was. They remember that summer.

“Nobody told us what kind of radiation there was in 1986. It was a hot summer, we worked in the fields. And when the harvest was harvested, they said, leave - you can’t live here. What happens until the harvest was harvested, it was possible to live, but then it became impossible? And where did this harvest go?”

During the dawn of democracy in Belarus, answers to these questions were already sought at the level of the Supreme Council. They never found it. Now the land in the resettlement zone is being reclaimed again - a plowed field is visible right behind the village. That is, you cannot live in the resettlement zone, but you can grow agricultural products. Bon appetit!

“We left here, got an apartment, and soon the chairman of the village council said: “Whoever wants to, you can come back.” We gave the apartment to the state and returned to our house. And then the chairman of the district executive committee said that you can’t live here. Where should we return? The officials say: “You have already been given an apartment, you are not allowed a second time.” So I had to stay.”

They did not turn off their electricity. Through the plowed crop field of the resettlement zone, the residential buildings of Bragin are visible. When you look at the seemingly metropolis-like regional center from the resettlement zone, you feel the energy of the Chernobyl zone especially strongly.

“It was especially scary to live the first winter after the disaster. It was very lonely. Now we’ve come to terms with it, but we can’t get used to loneliness.”

After watching enough Belarusian television, the head of the family asks me whether “The radiation is gone from here.” “And then, they say, now everything is in order, you can live, you can sow.”

I measure the background with a household dosimeter. Elevated, but not up to what is considered dangerous. I was in Krasnaya Gora when there was still snow and no dust, so the background was quite low, 30-40 MkR. In dry summer weather it will be higher.

The owners ask to measure in the yard. Here chickens graze and three small mongrels sit on a chain, who, making sure that the person who came with the owner is “one of their own,” bark joyfully at him. There is a metal stove near the house, on which food is usually cooked for the pigs. The ash in the furnace shows a “dangerous” level of over 60 MkR.

“Such a background gives the right to resettlement,”- I explain.

“So, I need to vacate the stove,”- Ivan jokes.

But the ash from the “fonit” bathhouse is much larger - 125 MkR. I advise you to throw this ash away and wash the bathhouse thoroughly.

“So we fertilize the garden with this ash. What should you sprinkle it with then?”- Vera is surprised.

The owners invite me to their house for dinner. On the table are homemade pickles, honey, and sausage and bread from Bragin.

“I go to Bragin, so I have to harness the horse. Nice horse“Everyone envy me.”

They don’t keep a cow because the elderly family is no longer in good health. And where can a cow graze if this is a radiation-contaminated area?

A few months ago, the Shilets family finally got a wired telephone. How did they live without a telephone before the advent of accessible cellular communications- it’s hard to imagine. Even a postal machine regularly delivers correspondence to the “resettled” village.

“They come here and different people, look how the houses were all looted. Most often, locals come, collect firewood, and then sell this firewood in Bragin. And before the 2006 elections, on behalf of local authorities, they came to dismantle the floors in the remaining huts. The boards were needed to repair polling stations.”

Once again I remind the hospitable hosts who heat the stove at home with the same wood that radionuclides enter the human body with smoke, which is much more dangerous than being in the air with an increased background radiation. But the Shilets family has no other choice but to heat the stove with “dirty” wood. Gas will not be supplied to a village with one house. And they have nowhere to leave the “resettled” village.

For organizing the trip.

Roads are destroyed not by themselves, but by the fact that cars drive on them. Due to the almost complete lack of traffic here, they look decent, despite years of lack of renovation. Only the grass emerging here and there indicates that this is not an ordinary regional highway.

From almost any elevated point in this area, you can see the antennas of the abandoned military camp "Chernobyl-2" located in the distance. IN Soviet time there was a unique over-the-horizon radar station that detected ballistic missile launches around the world and was part of the missile strike early warning system. Up to one and a half billion dollars were invested in the creation of this top-secret facility. Since radiation could interfere with the operation of the equipment, the station was shut down after the accident. But it was impossible to leave it, which is why the personnel and soldiers from security special forces forced to stay there received very high doses of radiation (up to several tens of roentgens). Subsequently, the station suffered the same fate as other objects of the Zone - unique, state-of-the-art equipment at that time containing precious metals, was broken and stolen. Interest in Chernobyl 2 remains high to this day due to the 150-meter high high-alloy steel antennas still standing there.

As already indicated in one of the previous stories, the Exclusion Zone continues to remain fully electrified, with many lines being re-routed.

Along the roads there is often evidence of the great agricultural importance that the region had before the accident. Vast collective farm fields are overgrown with weeds and young trees.

The skeletons of livestock farms flash by.

Empty huts of abandoned villages.

Villages that were close to the station and were too heavily infected were wiped off the face of the earth. Houses were destroyed by excavators and buried in the ground. The remaining hills have long since settled and are overgrown with grass, but the preserved street paths still remind of the past.

The kindergarten is the only building left from the village of Kopachi. The kindergarten is popular among excursionists due to its “convenient” location (right next to the highway from Chernobyl to Pripyat, which is why it often appears in photo reports). Inside it, we met an owl living there, which one of our guides managed to photograph.

In contrast to young Pripyat, an international Soviet city dominated by the Russian language and pan-Soviet culture, the Chernobyl region itself was a traditionally Ukrainian region.

The playground with its characteristic painted tires is very dirty - the dosimeter gives out 200-400 microroentgens per hour.

Other villages were not destroyed, but without their inhabitants they were still doomed. Villages are disappearing faster than cities. They are already difficult to distinguish on satellite images - they have been almost completely swallowed up by the forest.

This is not a forest road, but a street in a small village.

The age of wooden houses is especially short. Wood exposed to dampness and temperature fluctuations soon begins to rot and deform.

Many wooden buildings have already collapsed.

All that was left of this hut was the roof.

In another twenty to thirty years, the only reminders of Ukrainian villages will be the skeletons of bus stops.

Brick houses will last longer, but they will be difficult to detect in forest thickets.

There are weeds everywhere.

There was also free-growing hemp - no one needs it here.

This house probably housed the village council. Or maybe just a club or a general store.

And these people had a large farm.

I even remembered my father’s parents’ house. The Gomel region is very close, and the traditional rural life there and here was practically no different.

Even the layout is similar. How many more years will this house stand?

It’s unlikely that these cobs will hang for as long as these cobs are already hanging, where the swallow managed to build a nest.

Walking down the street dead village, you can unexpectedly come across a yard where there are no weeds, no black windows in the house, and everything indicates that someone lives here. These are the farms of people who have been given the name “self-settlers” - local residents who did not want to leave their homes, despite the radiation. Some of them don't like this name - “What kind of ‘self-settlers’ are we, who lived here in peace?” The isolated nature of life on Chernobyl soil led to the fact that these people turned into a special cultural group. Due to the tragedy suffered, difficult living conditions, little connection with big world people here are somehow kinder.

There are various reasons why they decided to return. Someone couldn't imagine life without native land, and returned immediately after the evacuation of rural areas on May 4 and 5, 1986, bypassing cordons and police posts. Others returned later, mainly for socio-economic reasons. At its peak, the number of self-settlers reached more than two thousand people (before the accident, about one hundred thousand lived on the resettled lands), but at the time of writing this story (autumn 2008) there were about three hundred of them left. After all, these are elderly people, and radiation, as we know, does not contribute to health and longevity. Many people develop cancer.

To be honest, I had some vague doubts about the ethics of such a visit to self-settlers. It was painfully reminiscent of a trip to the zoo - what else can you call it, when a crowd armed with photographic equipment walks around the property with interest, photographing you and your simple belongings, as if it were some kind of alien exotica. But in most cases, the self-settlers had nothing against it - our visit at least somehow diluted their monotonous, difficult and isolated life, and they were happy with the products brought.

Grandma Olga was the first one we went to visit (next to her is Alexander Sirota (Planca), Chief Editor site Pripyat.com). Exposure dose in a village with interesting name Lubyanka was 60 microroentgen per hour.

Her farm, like other farms of self-settlers, consisted of several households at once. Since the neighbors would never return, their abandoned property and buildings could be used at their own discretion. Only houses are unclaimed - a person cannot live in several at once.

Otherwise, it was no different from an ordinary village - a large vegetable garden, potatoes, and even a cow and calf.

The barn was fortified to the best of Grandma Olga’s ability to protect against wolves, who felt like masters here. “The dog was taken for a fee”- the village woman complained.

After milking the cow, the woman invited us to drink fresh milk. Everyone began to politely refuse, citing either dairy intolerance or stomach upset. I didn’t refuse, and drank the mug with pleasure (if someone who captured this moment is reading this story, I will be grateful if you send a photo to). The guy in the photo followed my example.

House decoration.

After thanking the hostess for her hospitality and wishing her health, we headed to the bus. A little behind the others, we met another old woman who quickly approached us and began to talk about the hardships of her life. It would have been impolite not to listen to her, but in this case we risked getting scolded by the guides for breaking away from the group. In the end, we had to tell grandma that there was absolutely no way we could give her a little more time, and then we hurriedly went to catch up with our people.

The next stop was the large village of Ilyintsy, where about one and a half thousand residents lived before the accident, and now only thirty remain. And although everyone lives in different parts of the village, people meet more often.

But everything indicates that the village is abandoned. All the same abandoned houses, which are no longer even accessible.

Overgrown streets again.

An old apple tree covered with small dry branches (because no one trims it).

A Lancer suddenly drove down the street - apparently, some of the self-settlers were being visited by relatives (obtaining a car pass to the Zone is a rather tedious task, at a minimum, it is necessary to give sufficient justification for this. The presence of relatives among the self-settlers seems to be such. The pass is issued to a specific car, and, of course, does not at all give the opportunity to ride anywhere. It is no longer suitable for the “ten”, and one should not forget that any routes and periods of stay in the Zone must still be previously agreed upon with the authorities).

Since the population of the contaminated territories was subject to unconditional resettlement, at first self-settlements were illegal, and attempts were made to bring them back to no avail. But gradually it became clear that they were not going to leave anywhere, and the state gave up, accepting the fact that they were living in a restricted area. Now they even have their own passes. They are examined annually by doctors; in every village where there are still people left, there is electricity and a radio station, through which, if something happens, you can send a signal for help.

Once a week they bring food here (in the photo - a closed village shop), and once a month - mail and pensions (care for the population is still much better than in some forgotten village in the Russian outback).

We again split into groups to visit a few more self-settlers. I again went in the group of Sergei from the Ministry of Emergency Situations (pictured on the right), a cool and colorful Ukrainian guy, who took us to his old friend (on the left, unfortunately, I forgot his name). Hearing that I spoke Belarusian, he expressed regret that Ukraine is not ruled by Lukashenko, “Because Lukashenko is doing well”.

A man's hand was felt in his household.

The hosts put a treat on the table, which no one refused - it was the other half of the day, and the dosimeters were not giving such frightening indicators.

After a strong vodka, everyone experienced a sharp rise in mood.

When we returned to the bus, everyone was already waiting for us (as it turned out, not everyone received the same warm welcome. The self-settler did not allow Alexander Sirota’s group to enter the door, saying that “they should have come earlier”). The guy in camouflage pants on the left is Anton “moloch” Yukhimenko, creative designer and photographer of the Pripyat.com project.

But more often local residents welcome visits from the Japanese and other aliens.

The last stop was the bridge over the Pripyat River, built after the accident.

If you look north from it, you can see the outlines of the Station in the haze. And on the other side, the city of Chernobyl and its private sector overgrown with forest are clearly visible.

After arriving from a trip to the zone, you must go through radiation control twice - first at Chernobylinform, and then at the checkpoint when leaving. In the second case, it resembles something between an airport scanner and a subway entrance. There are several booths in a row, and it is impossible to get out without passing them. The man stands in the booth and puts his hands on the iron handles. If the activity on it is within normal limits, the turnstile opens and lets you out to “ mainland" Otherwise, decontamination is required.

Despite only two days of being in the Zone, when leaving it you experience some kind of slight shock. And from the feeling that you are now free to go wherever you want, and from the sight of all these people and cars scurrying around, the ubiquitous signs and lanterns, houses inhabited by someone. Like you just dreamed a strange dream, and now you’ve woken up and can’t understand what all the fuss is going on around you. The exclusion zone is really some other dimension, deserted and strange, where even the people, if you manage to meet them, are different. The land of hundreds of thousands of curies occupies thoughts and beckons back.

FAQ

I also want to go to the Zone. How to do it?
To enter the Zone legally, it is best to book a tour.

I want to see places where excursions do not take you (the military town of Chernobyl-2, the abandoned Yanov railway station, etc.)
Book an individual tour (expensive!) or...

Is it possible to get into the zone on your own?
Yes, you can, but at your own peril and risk. You will need a good one physical form and backpacking equipment (backpacks, tents, provisions, navigators, clothing and shoes for traveling over rough terrain). And remember that the Zone is a sensitive facility, and by entering there, you are breaking the law and may be held accountable (for penetration - large fines, for attempting to remove “artifacts” - up to 3 years in prison); that many places in the zone are heavily contaminated and staying there for a long time is dangerous to health; and, finally, that he is walking freely around the zone a large number of wild animals dangerous to humans, such as wolves and wild boars.