Press Release, 29.09.2026

Photo: A memorial stone on Kirov Street in Chelyabinsk / Photo by Chelyabinsk Yabloko

The Chelyabinsk regional branch of Yabloko has issued an open appeal to Governor Alexei Teksler, proposing the erection of a memorial to residents of the region affected by radiation. The branch proposes that the initiative be carried out in cooperation with Rosatom (the State Energy Atomic Corporation of Russia) in time for the 70th anniversary of the Kyshtym disaster in 2027. The appeal was signed by Yaroslav Shcherbakov, Chairman of the regional branch.

The appeal has been timed to coincide with the 69th anniversary of the radiation accident at the Mayak chemical plant. In the appeal, Yaroslav Shcherbakov recalls that the disaster affected hundreds of thousands of people in the Urals, and that radioactive contamination spread over more than 20,000 square kilometres of the Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk and Tyumen Regions.

The regional branch of Yabloko is concerned that the memory of the victims of the accident, and of the heroism of the liquidators who dealt with its aftermath, is gradually fading. As the appeal notes, as far back as 2012 a symbolic stone was placed in the public garden on Kirov Street in central Chelyabinsk, on the site of the planned memorial to radiation victims. However, the memorial itself has still not been erected.

“We propose that, for the 70th anniversary of the tragedy and in cooperation with Rosatom, the promised monument to residents of the Chelyabinsk Region affected by radiation be erected,” the appeal runs.