Ukraine marks 36th anniversary of Chernobyl nuclear tragedy

ODESSA, UKRAINE - APRIL 26: Ukrainians mark the 36th anniversary of the catastrophic Chernobyl nuclear accident in their country, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Footage from Odessa shows people as they lay flowers at the Chernobyl monument on Tuesday, April 26. They remember the tragic incident of 1986 in the shade of the Ukraine-Russia war going on for two months now. "For me, Chernobyl is 200 days, from December 19, 1986 to July 2, 1987," tells Sergey Melnik, who "took part in the elimination of the consequences of the accident as part of the military unit of our Odessa military district." "It was scary in the first week when we entered, it was scary to look at abandoned villages, it was scary to look at road signs where it was written - eat, drink, breathe, is all forbidden, because the area was exposed to radioactive contamination." He was among the Chernobyl liquidators - the civil and military personnel who were called upon to deal with the consequences of the disaster. "Behind us were our families, people, and we had to fulfill our assigned task. There was no panic among our detachment, everyone understood the mission we had to fulfill. We just did it. We went there not for any benefits, not for awards, we went there because it was necessary... to stop that big trouble which could be even bigger," he tells. Over three decades ago, the worst disaster in the history of nuclear power generation occurred. A sudden surge of power during a reactor system test destroyed Unit 4 of the nuclear power station. 31 people were killed in the immediate aftermath of the accident, while millions more were affected. According to the official numbers, roughly 8.4 million people in the former Soviet territories of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine got the largest exposure to radiation in the form of a cloud. (Footage by Vladimir Shtanko /Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)