Chronology of events on the day of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Evacuation of the population. Escape from radiation. How a family that survived the evacuation preserves the history of Pripyat and saves rare horses

Evacuation The order to evacuate the Rybinsk Motor Plant was received on the night of October 15-16. Lavrentyev immediately convened a meeting of managers in his office and started talking about what everyone was anxiously waiting for and fearing: “The State Defense Committee’s decision has just been received - our plant.”

In April 1986, Vadim Vasilchenko went to fifth grade high school Pripyat - a few years earlier, my mother got a prestigious job at a nuclear power plant and the family moved to a small, quiet town. Pripyat is a satellite of a nuclear power plant, an analogue of our Kurchatov. They were even similar in appearance: multi-storey new buildings, wide avenues, flowering flower beds...

“That day at school we were given potassium iodide tablets, explaining that there had been a minor release at the station,” recalls Vadim. “On the way home, my classmates and I discussed rumors about the accident, figuring out what could have exploded there: a barrel of gasoline, or maybe a whole tank. We decided that since the fire was not visible, nothing bad had happened.” It was Saturday, a day off ahead, and the children were kicking a ball in the street until the evening. “The next day military equipment appeared in the city,” says an eyewitness. “That’s when it got scary.” We realized that something serious had happened.”

All the management was the first to leave Pripyat. The evacuation of ordinary residents began only two days later, when they had already received the maximum dose of radiation. There were loudspeakers on the streets - they explained to people that they would return home in a few days and they should take only the most necessary things with them. There was a terrible crush on the buses - panic began in the city...

What the authorities were keeping silent about

Late in the evening of April 27, the head of the Air Force medical service of the Kyiv Military District, Gennady Anokhin, was called to headquarters. The helicopter, which had just returned to base, recorded the release of radiation in the fire zone at the nuclear power plant. “We urgently went to the airfield,” recalls now Kursk resident Gennady Aleksandrovich. – We guessed that technology could also cause fouling. But when they brought the device to the helicopter, they couldn’t believe their eyes. It immediately became clear: something out of the ordinary happened at Chernobyl.” Not only the flight suits of the crew, but even their underwear were contaminated with radiation. “I ordered all the clothes to be collected in bags, but what to do next? – the doctor sighs. “You can’t throw it away, let alone burn it.” The pilots said that they twice flew through a black cloud that rose above the nuclear power plant. Moreover, the cabin door was open - the chemist measured the level of radiation overboard.

The next morning Gennady Anokhin was already in Pripyat. “On the way, I noticed the lines of buses,” he shares his impressions. “The city is empty - a sad and alarming sight.” There was no clear plan of action - before Chernobyl, no one could have imagined the possibility of a catastrophe of such a scale. “The 40-ton steel cap was dropped from the reactor of the 4th power unit,” says Anokhin. “Only one thing was clear: the reactor needed to be cooled.” Bags of sand, gravel, marble chips and lead were dropped from helicopters. To do this, it was necessary to fly exactly over the explosion site. At an altitude of 200 meters, radiation reached 1000 roentgens. Radiation sickness develops after a dose of 100 roentgens per hour. 600 units - instant death.

“It was necessary to determine the maximum permissible dose for liquidators,” says the Kuryan resident. – I repeatedly sent requests to Moscow, but did not receive an answer. I had to take responsibility. He suggested, as in wartime, a maximum of 25 roentgens.” By the way, the Japanese government has now set a limit for its liquidators at 250 millisieverts (about 25 roentgens). The Japanese explain: this is the average amount that survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki received; it is at this level of exposure that the first signs of radiation sickness appear. In Chernobyl, the first crews selected their maximum in three days. They were suspended from flying, and new ones took their place. The pilots tried to protect themselves. Someone found sheets of lead and lined the chair with them. Soon all liquidators flew only in such lead seats.

“Alcohol also protects against radiation by binding free radicals that destroy the body,” says the doctor. – And now they say that you should drink Cabernet or other dry wine. All this is not true - vodka is best. But for this method to be effective, you need to drink alcohol before the flight. How can a drunk pilot be allowed to take the controls?” Every morning the pilots were given tablets containing iodine. “By that time, specialists at the Institute of Space Medicine had developed many means to protect against radiation,” notes the Kuryan. – These are both special suits and medications. But the center did not agree to use all this for Chernobyl victims. One scientist brought a secret drug at his own risk. He gave me a bottle, 50 tablets in total, they should have been given to those who received particularly high doses.”

Attempts to hide the truth about the accident from the public interfered with work. Anokhin recalls how the need arose to measure the radiation level in the destroyed reactor. There is only one way to do this: lower a sensor into this hell from a helicopter. The pilot hovered over the fourth block and kept the car in this state for eight minutes. “We calculated that during this time he could have received from 8 to 12 x-rays,” says Ankhin. - I wrote it down on the card - 12. And the lieutenant general from headquarters pounced: “Why are you indicating high doses?” He tried to remove me from work twice.” Another scandal broke out when Anokhin ordered pilots who had taken their dose to be sent to a sanatorium near Kiev. The authorities were afraid that they would tell vacationers about Chernobyl, who would spread the news of the accident throughout the USSR.

Hoarse voices and red faces - all the liquidators acquired these distinctive signs already on the third day of work. Radioactive particles settled on the skin and vocal cords, causing burns. The coniferous forest near the station dried up the morning after the accident. That’s what they called it – the Red Forest. “I flew over it and took measurements. The dosimeter needle was jumping like crazy. In some places it went off scale. This meant a radiation level above 500 roentgens,” recalls the Kursk resident.

"Excursion" to the death zone

Leonid Orlov visited Chernobyl for the first time in 1985, a year before the fatal accident. For the head of the First Department of the Kursk NPP, business trips to other plants were in order. Moreover, the Kursk and Ukrainian stations were practically twins: they were built according to the same design. “I used to look out the window at the interior territory - and I felt uneasy, as if I had never left Kurchatov,” recalls Leonid Rodionovich. He returned to Chernobyl at the end of May 1986 - he needed to replace the head of the First Department of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant who had received his dose. “Together with my colleagues, I processed classified information related to the accident, brought it to the heads and specialists of the nuclear power plant,” Orlov succinctly describes the purpose of the business trip.

At first, I had to live and work in the building of the city party committee; it was there that the headquarters of the USSR Ministry of Energy for liquidation of the accident was located. There was a catastrophic lack of time - we slept in the same room where we worked with papers. “There was a pile of mattresses dumped in the corner,” recalls Leonid Rodionovich. – We checked them with a dosimeter – the background is terrible! The “dirtiest” ones were thrown out, and the ones that “ringed” less were somehow settled in. True, only for a few nights. Later we were moved to a pioneer camp, where many liquidators lived.” Every day they were taken by bus to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and back. Upon return, everyone was checked by dosimetrists and was given new clothes and shoes instead of worn-out ones. “I was amazed by the whole mountain of discarded shoes,” says the Kursk resident. “It looks like it just came from the store.”

In administrative premises nuclear power plant had to be replaced urgently beautiful furniture, purchased shortly before the accident for a simple one, without fabric upholstery. All window openings were covered with lead sheets. To somehow reduce exposure, metal cabinets were moved close to them.

“It’s a pity for the young soldiers whom the military registration and enlistment offices threw into the embrasure of the fourth block,” recalls Orlov. “They had no idea what radiation was and what danger they were exposing themselves to.” Once he observed the following picture: two soldiers stood on the street of Chernobyl with their protective “petals” removed, picked cherries in the front garden and ate with appetite. The guys shrugged off the remark about the danger of radiation: “Yes, it’s nonsense, it rained yesterday, it washed everything away.” In fact, everything is exactly the opposite: precipitation only increases the overall background. In another case, a curious soldier begged the driver of a concrete truck to take him on an “excursion” to the fourth block. He got out of the cabin and calmly went to see what kind of shelter was being built over the rector. The dosimetrists, driving an armored personnel carrier protected by additional sheets of lead, were shocked when they saw the “tourist”. He was hastily dragged into an armored personnel carrier and taken away.

The firefighters who were the first to arrive to extinguish the “fire” at the station received the largest dose of radiation. They did not allow the fire to spread to the third block, but paid for it with their own lives. “The protective equipment included a canvas robe, mittens and a helmet, and they kicked pieces of graphite from the roof,” says Leonid Rodionovich. 28 people were sent by plane to Moscow, to the sixth radiological hospital. Where they lay, even the walls were “off scale.” “Later I had a chance to talk with the clinic’s medical staff,” says the Kursk resident. “They have never been to Chernobyl, but they received their dose of radiation. They were irradiated by the very dying firefighters they cared for...”

Radiation was detected by smell

“It was as if I was on another planet, but with scenery from our reality,” liquidator Vyacheslav Smirnov described his first impression of Chernobyl. In January 1987, from danger zone They began to withdraw the military, replacing them with civil defense specialists. The head of the combat training department, Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov, left Kursk for Ukraine in February. The fourth block by that time was covered with a sarcophagus, but a lot of work remained. “We were clearing the neighboring roof, onto which fragments of the building fell after the explosion,” says our fellow countryman. “We had to remove the roofing felt and thermal insulation, which gave off a terrible smell.” Some “spots” emitted 200 roentgens. It was possible to stay near such zones for a maximum of half a minute, so they worked in turns, quickly changing. After some time, they learned to identify the invisible and inaudible killer - radiation - by smell. “Already 10 kilometers from the station there was a smell of ozone - this radiation ionized the air,” says Smirnov. “I had a constant sore throat - radioactive particles burned the mucous membrane.”

Kuryanin recalls how he gained access to a secret journal where all the emergency situations that occurred over these months were recorded. “I read how the crew of the Mi-8 helicopter died. The car hit the crane's cable with its propeller and fell straight into the reactor. A terrible disaster,” he sighs. – I was also surprised by the “thick-mindedness” of the authorities. In the spring of 1987, I saw a construction crew in the Red Forest - they were laying rails to the unfinished fifth and sixth blocks. After everything that happened, they were still planning to launch them.”

“Upon returning to Kursk, I went to the bathhouse - I had such a habit,” shares Vyacheslav Vasilyevich. - And lost consciousness. The body could not recover for a long time. In the sun I felt bad, I constantly suffered from headaches, osteochondrosis, and my stomach began to bother me. Before the business trip I was fond of kayaking, but I had to forget about it. I simply didn’t have the strength to carry the kayak..."

Kursk nuclear power plant became a backup for Chernobyl

25 years ago, more than three thousand Kursk residents were sent to eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. About 600 are no longer alive. “It’s a shame that the state first passed a law providing benefits and compensation to liquidators, and then actually reduced them to zero,” sighs one of our interlocutors.

For filmmakers, the Kursk nuclear power plant has long become a backup for the Chernobyl one. The point is not even that the experiment to quickly shut down the reactor, which entailed such catastrophic consequences, was originally planned to be carried out at our station. The scenery is just suitable - as mentioned above, both stations were built according to the same design. The Americans were the pioneers. The feature film “The Last Warning,” which tells about the international cooperation of doctors helping Russia in eliminating the consequences of Chernobyl, was partially filmed in Kurchatov. Filming of the main episodes related to the accident took place at the KuNPP itself. But the film did not receive a response from a wide audience. Then there were several documentaries, they were made for regular anniversaries. This year, the film crew was brought to Kurchatov by journalist and writer Vladimir Gubarev. The film, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl, was created by those who were directly involved in eliminating the consequences of the accident. The author of “Monologues about Chernobyl” notes: “We wanted to tell about Chernobyl differently than they have told before. Of those people for a long time were not considered heroes, and we tried to correct this mistake.”

The closed city of Pripyat is gradually becoming a new tourist center. The cost of a one-day excursion from Kyiv ranges from 70 to 400 dollars per person, you can arrange departure from Moscow. The exclusion zone was turned into a kind of attraction. After the release of the game “Stalker. “Call of Pripyat” has added more people - gamers are coming in droves to see “live” what they see every day on a computer monitor. Our first hero Vadim Vasilchenko also managed to repeat this route several times. But he doesn’t need guides: in Pripyat, the city of his childhood, it’s hard for him to get lost. “I found my house and apartment,” Vadim smiles sadly, “even some of the furniture was left there...” April 1986 forever divided his life into two large segments: before and after. As well as the lives of hundreds of thousands of former Soviet citizens: Chernobyl residents and liquidators.

Let's try to restore the chronology of events of how it happened.

1. On April 25, 1986, the plant management planned to shut down the reactor to carry out maintenance work. Very often during such stops all sorts of additional tests of equipment are carried out - this time a test of the so-called was planned. "turbogenerator rotor run-out". This mode was invented so that the turbine generator rotor could supply the station with electricity in the event of an emergency blackout.

One more thing should be said here. The “turbogenerator rotor run-down” mode had already been tested at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant three times before - in 1982, 1983 and 1984 - all of them ended unsuccessfully for one reason or another - the voltage during run-down dropped faster than usual, etc.
And in general, the RBMK type reactor, which was used at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, is not a very successful design, since it has serious shortcomings in the heat release control system and in the system of moderating modules (graphite blocks) - in other words, the reactor tends to overheat.

So, the reactor tests were carried out on April 25, 1986, the reactor power was reduced to 50%, and, in accordance with the test program, the emergency protection of the reactor was completely turned off. Then, as a result of these tests, the reactor got out of control, began to overheat, the moderating graphite rods did not enter the reactor with the required speed, resulting in an explosion.

2. April 26 at 1:42 a.m. to the desk of the duty officer HPV-2 The Chernobyl NPP security team received a signal about a fire at the station. Firefighters went to the station in a ZIL-131, fire guard of Vladimir Pravik.

3. At the same time, the guard of the 6th fire department, headed by Viktor Kibenok, leaves Pripyat to help Pravik. The fire was immediately assigned the so-called “number three” - the highest degree of complexity and danger. The firefighters had only standard canvas combat overalls, mittens and helmets. The gas and smoke protection service units were equipped with conventional KIP-5 gas masks, which is why they were unable to act actively and were removed from work in the first 4 minutes due to high temperatures.

Nothing was known about the highest levels of radiation (thousands of roentgens per hour) in the fire zone - this information appeared only at 3:30 in the morning, and even then in the form of assumptions - of the available military dosimeters, designed for 1000 roentgens, one failed, and the other turned out to be inaccessible due to the rubble.

4. 4 o'clock in the morning. The fire was localized on the roof of the turbine hall of the 4th power unit. This was not easy to do, because during construction, instead of heat resistant material the roof was filled with flammable bitumen.

5. 6 o'clock in the morning, the fire was completely extinguished. Leonid Pravik took charge of extinguishing the fire; he will die in Moscow on May 11 from the highest doses of radiation received in the fire.

6. Around this time, the first official reports about the accident began to appear. In the report presented below one can see a deliberate downplaying of the consequences of the explosion, especially with regard to the evacuation of the population - after all, radiation levels became known only a few hours after the accident.

7. 8 o'clock in the morning. The director of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant receives a request to the chairman of the government commission to evacuate the population of the city of Pripyat - no permission was given.

7. 8-9 am, Pripyat. Some vague rumors begin to appear among city residents that something happened at the station. The police and doctors were alerted, and the city schools began to board up windows and doors and wash the surrounding area. According to eyewitnesses, television was turned off in the city.

8. At about 12 noon, armored personnel carriers drove through the city towards the station, and helicopters also flew in. According to eyewitnesses, the soldiers did not have any protection, not even “petal” respirators.

9. 15 p.m. By this time, it was finally officially recorded that the reactor was completely destroyed, and huge amounts of radioactive substances were entering the atmosphere.

9. Around the same time, American satellites recorded radioactive emissions from the destroyed reactor - in part, it was this evidence, as well as measurements of the radioactive background and the movement of radioactive clouds around the world, that forced the USSR to eventually admit the full scale of the disaster, and not lie about a “minor accident” in the turbine room of the Fourth Power Unit."

10. April 26, 23.00. Discussion in a government commission of the possible evacuation of the city. At this time, it was decided to pull up evacuation transport to the city, and the final decision would be made on the morning of April 27, depending on the radiation situation.

11. On the night of April 27, transport columns began to approach the city - more than 1,200 buses, 360 trucks, two diesel trains. Eyewitnesses from nearby settlements remembered this night for the endless traffic flow towards Pripyat.

12. April 27, 7 am. The decision to evacuate the city in the second half of this day has finally been made.

13. At 13:00 in the afternoon, a message about evacuation was heard on the local radio. One of the local residents made an amateur video about the days of April 26 and 27 in Pripyat; at the end of the video you can hear this message and see footage of the evacuation of residents.

14. 13.20-13.50 - police officers carried out a search of all houses in the city. Later, after the residents have been evacuated, the round will be carried out again - 20 people who decided to stay will be found.

15.14.00 - buses were sent to the gathering places.

16. 14.00-16.30. Carrying out the evacuation - columns of 20 buses and 5 trucks, accompanied by traffic police, left the city at intervals of 10 minutes.

17. Decisions to evacuate the population of the thirty-kilometer zone began to be made on May 2, 1986.

04/26/1986 8.00-9.00

Request from the director of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant about the evacuation of the population from Pripyat from the chairman of the Government Commission. There is no clear idea of ​​the radiation situation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and in the city. No permission was given

04/26/1986 23.00

Discussion in the Government Commission of the issue of evacuation of the population from Pripyat (a decision was made to strengthen observations of the radioactive situation, to pull up transport intended for evacuation to the outskirts of Chernobyl, the final decision was made on the morning of April 27, 1986)

04/27/1986 22.30-2.00

Departure of vehicles to the disaster areas and their concentration at the border of Chernobyl: buses - 1225 (transport and sanitary equipment was installed on 144 buses), trucks - 360. In addition, on railway station Yanov prepared two diesel trains with 1,500 seats.

The Chairman of the Government Commission at a narrow meeting announced that he had decided to evacuate on the afternoon of April 27, 1986.

10.00-12.00

The Chairman of the Government Commission gave instructions to local party bodies and announced the procedure for evacuation of the population (the time and date of the officially announced decision of the Government Commission to carry out the evacuation of Pripyat is considered to be 12.00 on April 27, 1986)

Briefing of heads of evacuation sectors, their deputies and senior squads

Briefing of all personnel involved in the evacuation

Broadcast on local radio of a message from the Pripyat City Executive Committee about the evacuation

until 13.50

Repeated house-to-house inspection by police officers

Gathering of residents at the entrances of their houses

Delivery of buses to collection points (beginning of evacuation)

14.00-16.30

Evacuation: convoys of 20 buses and 5 trucks were sent for people and personal property to Pripyat at intervals of 10 minutes, accompanied by traffic police

Practical completion of evacuation

Door-to-door inspection of houses by police officers (20 people were identified who tried to evade evacuation)

According to official sources, there were enough vehicles, and the evacuation of the population from Pripyat took place calmly, without panic. In less than three hours, only those who carried out their official duties remained in the city. At the same time, on April 27, the population was evacuated from the Chernobyl-2 military camp.

Subsequently, due to the constant deterioration of the radiation situation, a decision was made to continue the evacuation. On the third of May, in one day (!), 15 villages were evacuated - Lelev, Kopachi, Chistogalovka, Koksharovka, Zimovishche, Krivaya Gora, Koshovka, Mashevo, Paryshev, Staroselye, Krasnoe, Novoshepelichi, Usov, Benyovka and Starosepelichi, from which about 10 thousand people. All these villages are located within a ten-kilometer exclusion zone.

As new data on the radiation situation in areas remote from the station became available in the following days, the need arose to carry out a phased evacuation of the population from a thirty-kilometer zone. Between May 3 and May 7, people fled another 43 settlements, including Chernobyl. 28,500 people were taken out. Additionally, by mid-May, another 2,000 people left 7 settlements. The time required to evacuate one village ranged from 4 to 8 hours.

In Chernobyl, unlike Pripyat, there was a lot of private sector, and there was not enough time to drive up to each house. Therefore, people waited for shipment at collection points. And on May 5, the last civilian left Chernobyl. They say that, hastily leaving their homes, Chernobyl victims left notes for thieves and looters, in which they asked not to touch anything, not to destroy property, many gave written permission, if necessary, to live in their house, almost all sincerely believed that they would return very soon.

But in remote areas, not all residents obeyed the authorities’ demands to leave their homes. Scientists of the expedition of the Radium Institute named after. Khlopin, who in the first months after the accident carried out radiation surveys of abandoned settlements, repeatedly met local residents in evacuated villages and villages. These were mostly elderly people; as a rule, persuasion and explanations about the dangers of radiation did not work on them.

So, in the village of Chistogalovka, where in mid-May 1986 the radiation situation was very difficult, an elderly man lived. Not wanting to evacuate, he hid all living creatures, including livestock, in the basement of his house. Note that at that time the background radiation level in his village was about 70 mR/h. The naive native sincerely hoped to sit out for a month or two in deep underground and wait for the situation to improve. Unfortunately, the further fate of this person is unknown. Probably, common sense prevailed, and the old man left the exclusion zone. Later, this village, which fell under the main stream of radiation released from the reactor, was destroyed and buried. Today, only rare half-rotten fences and pitiful trees of degenerate apple and plum trees remind of the village that existed here.

But perhaps the greatest stubbornness was demonstrated by the residents of the village of Kovshilovka. With a radiation background of 7 mR/h in 1986, absolutely all adult residents refused to evacuate. They just took their children to relatives. However, today this settlement is uninhabited; the authorities still managed to convince the intractable villagers.

In the personal diaries of the first researchers of the affected area, one can find frank memories of the human grief they saw. At the transit points there was an oppressive atmosphere of total hopelessness; people had little understanding of what was happening and humbly awaited the decision of their future fate.

Here are the scientists’ recollections of the situation in the city of Ivankov in the first weeks of May: “The central square of the city was filled with people with gray faces. Bonfires were burning, near which children and old people warmed themselves, despite the calendar month of May, there were frosts at night. People were confused, their looks were full of despair. But then they still believed that very soon, three days after the eviction, the state would change its decision and they would be allowed back home... The evacuees crowded near the city’s administrative buildings with the hope of finally hearing good news. At least one piece of good news in the last few weeks.”

This magical period - three days - appears in many memoirs and chronicles. Residents of the city of Pripyat and other settlements evacuated on April 27 were promised a return to normal life in three days. Even in the famous announcement that was heard on the radio in Pripyat, it was reported that the eviction would not last long, you only need to take documents and the most necessary things with you.

Where did this line come from? Probably three days is a “preparatory decision” for the civil defense services. If, with a lack of information, you need to quickly make a decision, then use pre-prepared templates. Based on the fact that the Soviet civil defense system was focused on protection in the event of a nuclear attack, these three days are a completely reasonable evacuation period. It’s just that when a uranium charge explodes, radionuclides are formed, the activity of which decreases by about a thousand times in three days. But during the explosion of the reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, other radionuclides entered the environment; they have longer half-lives. In this case, it is measured not in days, but in decades. Therefore, the “three-day” hope of local residents was soon dispelled by reality.

In total, 116 thousand people from 188 settlements were evacuated in 1986. Humanity did not know such a mass exodus of people from inhabited territories in the 20th century. It was only possible to remove such a number of disoriented people in such a short time if there were powerful technical resources and a high level of organization. For comparison: the exodus of refugees from Kosovo in 1999 involved over 100 thousand people, but the world community called this process a humanitarian disaster.

However, the Soviet Union had experience of such force majeure departures, and it is no coincidence that many historians call the evacuation of population and industry to the east in 1941 the most important operation of the Great Patriotic War.

Chronology of the evacuation of Pripyat

04/26/1986 8.00-9.00

Request from the director of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant about the evacuation of the population from Pripyat from the chairman of the Government Commission. There is no clear idea of ​​the radiation situation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and in the city. No permission was given

04/26/1986 23.00

Discussion in the Government Commission of the issue of evacuation of the population from Pripyat (a decision was made to strengthen observations of the radioactive situation, to pull up transport intended for evacuation to the outskirts of Chernobyl, the final decision was made on the morning of April 27, 1986)

04/27/1986 22.30-2.00

The departure of vehicles to the disaster areas and their concentration at the border of Chernobyl: buses - 1225 (transport and sanitary equipment was installed on 144 buses), trucks - 360. In addition, two diesel trains with 1500 seats were prepared at the Yanov railway station.

The Chairman of the Government Commission at a narrow meeting announced that he had decided to evacuate on the afternoon of April 27, 1986.

10.00-12.00

The Chairman of the Government Commission gave instructions to local party bodies and announced the procedure for evacuation of the population (the time and date of the officially announced decision of the Government Commission to carry out the evacuation of Pripyat is considered to be 12.00 on April 27, 1986)

Briefing of heads of evacuation sectors, their deputies and senior squads

Briefing of all personnel involved in the evacuation

Broadcast on local radio of a message from the Pripyat City Executive Committee about the evacuation

until 13.50

Repeated house-to-house inspection by police officers

Gathering of residents at the entrances of their houses

Delivery of buses to collection points (beginning of evacuation)

14.00-16.30

Evacuation: convoys of 20 buses and 5 trucks were sent for people and personal property to Pripyat at intervals of 10 minutes, accompanied by traffic police

Practical completion of evacuation

Door-to-door inspection of houses by police officers (20 people were identified who tried to evade evacuation)

According to official sources, there were enough vehicles, and the evacuation of the population from Pripyat took place calmly, without panic. In less than three hours, only those who carried out their official duties remained in the city. At the same time, on April 27, the population was evacuated from the Chernobyl-2 military camp.

Subsequently, due to the constant deterioration of the radiation situation, a decision was made to continue the evacuation. On the third of May, in one day (!), 15 villages were evacuated - Lelev, Kopachi, Chistogalovka, Koksharovka, Zimovishche, Krivaya Gora, Koshovka, Mashevo, Paryshev, Staroselye, Krasnoe, Novoshepelichi, Usov, Benyovka and Starosepelichi, from which about 10 thousand people. All these villages are located within a ten-kilometer exclusion zone.

As new data on the radiation situation in areas remote from the station became available in the following days, the need arose to carry out a phased evacuation of the population from a thirty-kilometer zone. Between May 3 and May 7, people fled another 43 settlements, including Chernobyl. 28,500 people were taken out. Additionally, by mid-May, another 2,000 people left 7 settlements. The time required to evacuate one village ranged from 4 to 8 hours.

In Chernobyl, unlike Pripyat, there was a lot of private sector, and there was not enough time to drive up to each house. Therefore, people waited for shipment at collection points. And on May 5, the last civilian left Chernobyl. They say that, hastily leaving their homes, Chernobyl victims left notes for thieves and looters, in which they asked not to touch anything, not to destroy property, many gave written permission, if necessary, to live in their house, almost all sincerely believed that they would return very soon.

But in remote areas, not all residents obeyed the authorities’ demands to leave their homes. Scientists of the expedition of the Radium Institute named after. Khlopin, who in the first months after the accident carried out radiation surveys of abandoned settlements, repeatedly met local residents in evacuated villages and villages. These were mostly elderly people; as a rule, persuasion and explanations about the dangers of radiation did not work on them.

So, in the village of Chistogalovka, where in mid-May 1986 the radiation situation was very difficult, an elderly man lived. Not wanting to evacuate, he hid all living creatures, including livestock, in the basement of his house. Note that at that time the background radiation level in his village was about 70 mR/h. The naive native sincerely hoped to sit out for a month or two in deep underground and wait for the situation to improve. Unfortunately, the further fate of this person is unknown. Probably, common sense prevailed, and the old man left the exclusion zone. Later, this village, which fell under the main stream of radiation released from the reactor, was destroyed and buried. Today, only rare half-rotten fences and pitiful trees of degenerate apple and plum trees remind of the village that existed here.

But perhaps the greatest stubbornness was demonstrated by the residents of the village of Kovshilovka. With a radiation background of 7 mR/h in 1986, absolutely all adult residents refused to evacuate. They just took their children to relatives. However, today this settlement is uninhabited; the authorities still managed to convince the intractable villagers.

In the personal diaries of the first researchers of the affected area, one can find frank memories of the human grief they saw. At the transit points there was an oppressive atmosphere of total hopelessness; people had little understanding of what was happening and humbly awaited the decision of their future fate.

Here are the scientists’ recollections of the situation in the city of Ivankov in the first weeks of May: “The central square of the city was filled with people with gray faces. Bonfires were burning, near which children and old people warmed themselves, despite the calendar month of May, there were frosts at night. People were confused, their looks were full of despair. But then they still believed that very soon, three days after the eviction, the state would change its decision and they would be allowed back home... The evacuees crowded near the city’s administrative buildings with the hope of finally hearing good news. At least one piece of good news in the last few weeks.”

This magical period - three days - appears in many memoirs and chronicles. Residents of the city of Pripyat and other settlements evacuated on April 27 were promised a return to normal life in three days. Even in the famous announcement that was heard on the radio in Pripyat, it was reported that the eviction would not last long, you only need to take documents and the most necessary things with you.

Where did this line come from? Probably three days is a “preparatory decision” for the civil defense services. If, with a lack of information, you need to quickly make a decision, then use pre-prepared templates. Based on the fact that the Soviet civil defense system was focused on protection in the event of a nuclear attack, these three days are a completely reasonable evacuation period. It’s just that when a uranium charge explodes, radionuclides are formed, the activity of which decreases by about a thousand times in three days. But during the explosion of the reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, other radionuclides entered the environment; they have longer half-lives. In this case, it is measured not in days, but in decades. Therefore, the “three-day” hope of local residents was soon dispelled by reality.

In total, 116 thousand people from 188 settlements were evacuated in 1986. Humanity did not know such a mass exodus of people from inhabited territories in the 20th century. It was only possible to remove such a number of disoriented people in such a short time if there were powerful technical resources and a high level of organization. For comparison: the exodus of refugees from Kosovo in 1999 involved over 100 thousand people, but the world community called this process a humanitarian disaster.

However, the Soviet Union had experience of such force majeure departures, and it is no coincidence that many historians call the evacuation of population and industry to the east in 1941 the most important operation of the Great Patriotic War.

After the completion of the Chernobyl evacuation, the creation of the exclusion zone itself began. In mid-May 1986, a corresponding government decree was issued; a security perimeter was created with the intention of prohibiting free access to the territory and regulating entry and exit from it. This made it possible to suppress attempts to remove contaminated items and materials from the zone, and to minimize the risk of looting.