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Chernobyl Remembered - 20 years has passed
Bells tolled, sirens blared and mourners bearing candles commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster....
The explosion that ripped through Reactor no. 4 two decades ago ripped the roof off the reactor block and a cloud of radiation -- many times that released by the Hiroshima bombing in 1945 -- resulted in 10 days of fallout across 200,000 square kilometers of the Soviet Union and Europe. One worker was killed instantly, his body never found, and at least 29 rescue workers and plant workers died subsequently of radiation poisoning. The exact death toll from the disaster remains a matter of controversy, with the World Health Organization saying the ultimate death toll will be as low as 9,300 while Greenpeace recently claimed that as many as 93,000 lives will be lost as a direct result of the disaster and diseases -- especially thyroid cancer -- caused by radiation.
Read more... Bells tolled, sirens blared and mourners bearing candles commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.... ... more -
Accommodation in Ukraine, apartments in Kiev, Places to Visit in Kiev
Places to visit in Ukraine, Kiev accommodation
Two hundred years is not a long period for ancient Kyiv, but the 1,300 meter long Khreshchatyk Street remains the most popular place in the city all year long - its Broadway, its Champs Elysees, its Nevskiy Prospekt. Khreshchatyk has been praised by bards and poets, reproduced by artists and cinematographers, and depicted on postcards and stamps. The beauty of the shady chestnuts in bloom competes with that of the human-built ensembles of post-war buildings. Although the street has plenty of shops and offices. Most of people come here not on business but just to relax.
Back in the 11th century the Dmitriyevskiy Monastery stood here. It was founded by the Prince Isyaslav Yaroslavich of Kyiv (Christian name - Dmitri). In July 1108 his son Sviatopolk (Christian name - Mikhail) started to build the stone Mikhailovska church inside the monastery built by his father. The dome was plated with gold, and the new cathedral and later the whole monastery became known as the Mikhailovskiy Gold-Domed. Along the northern border of the monastery extends the block of Barbara cells. Other cells on the side of Triokhsviatitelska Street are adjoining the bell tower. Places to visit in Ukraine, Kiev accommodation ... more -
Art by Boris Kudryavtsev
Boris Kudryavtsev practiced the landscape painting just in the open air. In his works we see the nature near Moscow in its season changes , as well as autumn and spring landscapes of Sudak environs in Crimea. Maybe it is precisely the small size of his miniature pictures, that helped him in any weather conditions and in spite of time shortage to cope with rather complicated landscape painting tasks – to find the special moments of nature’s beauty in its color, light and form. Instead of brush, he always used mastichine and with it he developed his filigree original technique which transmits the nature's shapes and rhythms and eloquently speaks of the artist's highly inspired character. Boris Kudryavtsev stopped his landscape painting in 1991 Boris Kudryavtsev practiced the landscape painting just in the open air. In his works we see the nature near Moscow in its season ... more
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40 missing after Ukrainian mine blast
Three miners are injured and at least 37 missing following an underground gas explosion at a coal mine in Ukraine at about 5am local time. The blast occurred about 1km under the ground. A regional safety spokeswoman said it "shattered windows in the mine's administrative office and damaged the panelling of a lift."
Gas explosions are a frequent occurrence in Ukraine's outdated mines, many of which are loss-making and date from the 19th century.
Three explosions at the Zasyadko mine in Donetsk late last year killed 106 men in two weeks. Three miners are injured and at least 37 missing following an underground gas explosion at a coal mine in Ukraine at about 5am local t... more -
Canada moves to recognize Ukrainian famine
The Canadian government moved yesterday to become one of the first in the world to recognize the 1932-33 Ukrainian famine, the Holodomor, as a deliberate act of genocide. The Canadian government moved yesterday to become one of the first in the world to recognize the 1932-33 Ukrainian famine, the Holodom... more
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Bizarre Hitler toy hits Ukraine collectables market
I don't understand why people would buy this, but someone must have done research. The only thing it tells me is, there are definitely still a lot of people in this world, that have an incredible amount of hate in their hearts...
Sad story, from the bbc.... I don't understand why people would buy this, but someone must have done research. The only thing it tells me is, there are definitely... more -
Bigger small car for tallest man
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko presents world's tallest man with a customised car.
Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk is too tall to use normal transport. The Ukrainian says his height has been a burden rather than a blessing. His spectacular growth began when he was about 10 years old. He is reluctant to discuss it but local media say a brain operation set off hormonal problems that kept him growing.
Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri reports. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko presents world's tallest man with a customised car. ... more -
Protesters burn effigy of President Bush before his arrival in Ukraine
A week in pictures from March 29- April 4.
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President Bush backs Ukraine NATO bid
The Ukraine wants in to NATO, and President Bush is all for it. But Russia is vehemently opposed, and France and Germany both have objections.
I'm unsure - does Bush's endorsement help or hurt their cause? The Ukraine wants in to NATO, and President Bush is all for it. But Russia is vehemently opposed, and France and Germany both have ob... more -
Christian ethics taught in Ukraine's public schools
For the first time in 90 years, Ukrainian students have the option of studying Christian ethics in the public schools. Christian ethics for the school curriculum was an initiative proposed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko shortly after the Orange Revolution in 2005.
The program calls for voluntary participation and is supported by the leaders of Ukraine's largest Christian denominations. One Baptist church association, "Hope to People" of Rivne, Ukraine, sponsors teacher training at several fellowship camps throughout the year.
In the summer of 2007, I attended one of these fellowship camps for teachers of Christian ethics as a public high school teacher from the USA. The camp was held at the Vodogray resort in the beautiful Carpathian Mountain region of western Ukraine.
I asked the principal of a school in Kharkov: "Why is the culture and attitude toward religion in western Ukraine so different from that of your city in eastern Ukraine?"
"It's not the same, eastern Ukraine and western Ukraine, because the western part of Ukraine was added to the Soviet Union later on, about 20 years. And this is why they could keep their national culture and national language as well. They resisted the communists who pressured them so that people here might speak Russian only. The Ukrainian language was forbidden as a language at school and even as a language of common fellowship."
Since everyone knows that prayer and Bible reading has been restricted or banned in American public schools since the early 1960s. I found it ironic that as an American public high school teacher, I was asked to speak to a group of about 100 Ukrainian teachers many of whom teach “Christian Ethics” classes in the public schools of Ukraine, a former communist country.
For the first time in 90 years, Ukrainian students have the option of studying Christian ethics in the public schools. Christian ethic... more -
Chernobyl, Nikolay and the others
On 26 April 1986, the worst nuclear disaster in history occurred in Chernobyl, devastating the lives of millions of people living in Western Russia and the Ukraine as well as contaminating large parts of Europe.
Nikolai was working in Chernobyl as officer in command of the battalion 32207. He was a podpolkovnik. The task of his battalion was to provide first aid in the event of an accident at the nuclear plant.
Early that morning, the 20 scientists on duty ran a safety test in the Reactor No. 4 of the power plant of Chernobyl in the north of Ukraine, just 106 km from Kiev. When something went wrong the biggest ecological disaster was about to start. What happened is History, more or less contaminated too.
It?s thought that almost 800000 people worked in the clean-up after the accident, although only 284,000 are registered as veterans of Chernobyl. It?s impossible to establish an accurate figure. In a totalitarian regime that routinely classified practically everything and everyone the exact number of those who came to clean up Chernobyl is unknown because no records had been kept ? in fact, there are no official lists of people who were sent or simply worked in Chernobyl.
During the interview with Nikolai, he told me that on the third day after the accident, 350 men were put under his command to form the battalion 50937 of the civil defence. He claimed that 350 men were assigned to him, but none of them were officially listed. (He possesses the documents to back up his claim).
?The people who formed my battalion weren?t officially there. They weren?t on a payroll or anything similar. They were in fact, Smertniki, people sent to die.
Many questions remain unresolved: Why weren?t all those men officially listed? Why did it take Nikolai, who was a high-ranking officer, 17 years to prove he was there? And what really happened in those days?
The documentary would give a first-hand account of somebody who was there ? his thoughts and recollection of those dramatic days as well as his harrowing 20-year battle for recognition with the Ukrainian government. The documentary aims to give a voice and recognition to the forgotten heroes of the 20th century ? people like Nikolai ? whose courage and determination saved Europe from a nuclear holocaust.
Rather than focus on the actual disaster of Chernobyl and its environmental consequences, the three-part documentary will narrate the story of the ghost battalion 50937.
The Chernobyl accident will function as a background to explore the feelings and the memories of a collective drama that involved millions of people, yet still remains a mystery to the outside world. However, it?s my belief that any attempt to narrate a true account of those days is impossible as the Ukrainian government is slowly coming out of a decade of fake democracy and corruption at every level. Because of the bureaucratic culture that allowed the cover-ups and censorship in the coverage of Chernobyl in the Soviet media, there is still a lot of secrecy about the area.
Nikolai, in fact, is not only fighting for recognition but mainly, and understandably, for a better pension. The Eastern European approach to life is much more practical ? it became clear to me that none of the people who still live in Kiev and have been to Chernobyl are fighting for a better place in history but rather because recognition would automatically mean a better pension.
For all of the veterans, it?s a traumatic experience to remember and they are all very ill with various forms of cancer (thyroid the most common, but also testicle cancer) and many also suffer from respiratory and heart complications. The documentary should be made as soon as possible because of deteriorating health conditions of many of the potential interviewees and their need for medicines.
On 26 April 1986, the worst nuclear disaster in history occurred in Chernobyl, devastating the lives of millions of people living in W... more -
Creepy kitsch mannequins from Ukraine and Russia
In former-Communist Russia, entire department stores have often been abandoned, or mannequins are kept and reused for decades, while fashions change and new aesthetics overtake. In former-Communist Russia, entire department stores have often been abandoned, or mannequins are kept and reused for decades, while f... more
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Russia threatens Ukraine
In another development in the what is becoming known as Polish Missile crisis, Russia has issued stark words to Ukraine regarding their plans to join NATO and accepting plans to build missile bases in its territory. Speaking in Moscow after four hours of talks with the Ukranian president, Vladamir Putin spoke of Ukraine's plans to join,
"That of course is Ukraine's internal process ... and we don't have the right, and we won't, interfere in this process. [But] that raises the question for Russia of the need for retaliatory actions."
"It's frightening not just to talk about, but even to think about, that in response to such deployment, the possibility of such deployments, that Russia will have to point its warheads at Ukrainian territory." In another development in the what is becoming known as Polish Missile crisis, Russia has issued stark words to Ukraine regarding thei... more -
Ukrainian politics
The Orange Revolution brought hundreds of thousands of people out to the streets in Kyiv, Ukraine in hopes for change and democracy. Since then many have become disillusioned with politics. Just in time with an American election year, this pod examines the mentality of people in a young democracy and the challenges faced by today's Ukrainian youth.
Damian Kolodiy
www.OrangeChronicles.com The Orange Revolution brought hundreds of thousands of people out to the streets in Kyiv, Ukraine in hopes for change and democracy. S... more -
Chernobyl Heart: An Academy Award winning film by Maryann De Leo
In Belarus, the country most seriously contaminated by the April 29, 1986 Chernobyl accident, the terrible effects of radiation are seen in the high levels of cancer, birth defects, and heart conditions suffered by the region's children. In Belarus, the country most seriously contaminated by the April 29, 1986 Chernobyl accident, the terrible effects of radiation are se... more
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Asus monitors: your best defense against crossbow attacks?
This one's YouTube caption says it best: "Shooting at the monitor from the arbalest! Striking!" If you replace 'arbalest' with 'fancy European crossbow' you've got a recipe for entertainment. Some Ukrainian crazies got ahold of an Asus LS201 monitor with protective glass and really went all out. The hammer and nails scenes are less than convincing, but the crossbow moment has to be seen to be believed. Think of it as Ukraine's present to you. Video is after the break. This one's YouTube caption says it best: "Shooting at the monitor from the arbalest! Striking!" If you replace 'arbalest' with 'fancy ... more
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World's Oldest Man Dies
He was 116 years old! His secret to living so long... not ever getting married.
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Current TV in the Audience at AFI Fest 2007
Adam Fish, at AFI Fest 2007, giving a heads up to Current and his Kyrgyzstan revolution documentary, in a packed Q&A for the film Orange Revolution (Ukraine revolution). He asks the director Steve York about the role of new media in democratic revolutions in Central Asia.
A great youtube clip from the documentary Orange Revolution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgzGOQ-8xjY Adam Fish, at AFI Fest 2007, giving a heads up to Current and his Kyrgyzstan revolution documentary, in a packed Q&A for the f... more -
Wooden car
People in the Ukraine must be bored out of their mind now that the Orange Revolution is over.
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