Press Release, 26.04.2021

Photo: Nikolai Rybakov and Ivan Bolshakov. / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

On April 24-26, 2021, Yabloko’s Green Russia faction and regional branches of the Yabloko party took part in the traditional All-Russian action dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy.

On April 26, Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, Deputy Chairman Ivan Bolshakov and Olga Tsepilova, Chair of the Green Russia faction and member of the Yabloko Bureau laid flowers at the Memorial to the victims of the Chernobyl disaster in Moscow.

Photo: Olga Tsepilova

“On the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, we are clearly aware that there are no safe nuclear technologies in the world today. Nevertheless, Russia is starting a new round of nuclear energy development. It is extremely dangerous from an environmental point of view, extremely disadvantageous economically, and extremely short-sighted politically. We must not forget the lessons of Chernobyl,” Olga Tsepilova said.

Laying flowers at the memorials to Chernobyl victims took place in many cities of Russia: Arkhangelsk, Moscow, Chelyabinsk, Blagoveshchensk, Petrozavodsk, Volgograd, Yeisk and others. In a number of cities permitted actions, seminars, and round tables were held.

Photo: Action in Petrozavodsk. Environmentalist Dmitry Rybakov

On April 24, 2021, Natalya Manzurova, an activist of the Green Russia faction and liquidator of the Chernobyl accident (the Sverdlovsk regional branch of the faction), spoke in the stream of Andrei Ozharovsky about the Chernobyl disaster “There are no safe nuclear power plants”.

In Novgorod, the regional branch of the faction held a mass picket. Single pickets were held in Yeisk and Tuapse.

In Volgograd, Yabloko activists are holding a children’s competition of drawings and essays on the topic “Chernobyl. We remember”. The results will be announced in May.

The Chelyabinsk branch of  Yabloko honoured the memory of the victims of the Chernobyl disaster and other nuclear accidents by laying flowers in the park in Kirov Street at the site where a monument to the victims of radiation exposure have to be erected.

For the Chelyabinsk region, this is not just a memorable date. The South Urals residents of the contaminated territories have fully felt the death and grief from the destructive power of radiation due to the Kyshtym tragedy, the Mayak plant accident. Many residents of the region took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

“For the ninth year in Chelyabinsk, they have not been able to erect a monument to the residents of the Chelyabinsk region who suffered from the effects of radiation. This monument was supposed to be installed in the park at the intersection of Kirov street and Rabotnitz street,” activists of the regional branch of the party emphasise.

The Yabloko branch in Yeisk took part in the traditional action of laying flowers which is annually organised by the Union of Chernobyl Cleanup Veterans: 250 people were sent to eliminate the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant from Yeisk. Due to the radiation doses received, most of the liquidators of the Chernobyl disaster have already passed away. The local branch of the Yabloko party paid tribute to their memory and laid flowers at the memorial.

A discussion “Waste from production and consumption. Radiation safety. The Sverdlovsk region” was held in Yekaterinburg. The discussion was attended by 23 representatives of 17 non-profit organisations, including the Sverdlovsk branch of the Green Russia faction of the Yabloko party.

In Arkhangelsk  Artyom Kanayev, Chairman of the regional branch of the Green Russia faction, together with members of the faction, laid flowers at the monument to the dead liquidators of the Chernobyl accident.