The 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident is a reason to talk about many things. About the fatal flaws in the design of Soviet high-power reactors and the mistakes made by Anatoly Dyatlov’s ill-fated shift at Reactor No. 4. About the heroism of firefighters like Vladimir Pravik, who battled the flames at the plant, and the courage of hundreds of others involved in the cleanup. About the debates among Soviet bureaucrats and scientists regarding what really happened in Pripyat. Finally, about the construction of the one-of-a-kind sarcophagus over the explosion-ravaged Chernobyl reactor. But most importantly, it’s worth recalling how the Kremlin first denied the disaster on April 26, 1986, then concealed its true scale—and ultimately lost the battle against reality in less than three weeks.

#nuclearenergy #Belarus #state #Twoleggedbelt #historicalmemory #catastrophe #MikhailGorbachev #society #Restructuring #PolitburooftheCentralCommitteeoftheCPSU #theUSSR #Ukraine #censorship #Chernobyl #nuclearexplosion

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In January 1986, the newly elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Mikhail Gorbachev, proposed that all countries in the world give up nuclear weapons. In 1988, in his book, he directly stated that universal human values are more important than class values. These ideas gave rise to the concept of «new thinking,» which changed much in international politics. Why didn’t these changes work, and why, forty years later, have we fallen into a historical abyss?

#DonaldTrump #europe #west #imperialism #Internationalpolitics #MikhailGorbachev #moussesilence #aftertheUSSR #Russia #USA #ColdWar

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On December 5, 1994, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum with three nuclear powers who guaranteed its security and independence in exchange for giving up its stockpile of nuclear weapons. This agreement was supposed to prevent any conflict between Ukraine and Russia. But it turned out to be a useless piece of paper.

#America #BillClinton #BorisYeltsin #BudapestMemorandum #UnitedKingdom #WarinUkraine #diplomacy #west #Crimea #LeonidKuchma #MikhailGorbachev #Independence #aftertheUSSR #Russia #sovereignty #USA #Ukraine #Economy #nuclearweapons

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In the early 1990s, Dmitry Gubin worked at the magazine «Ogonyok,» which was then headed by Korotich — and he has memories to share about the legendary editor who passed away this week.

#VitalyKorotich #journalism #historicalmemory #personalexperience #media #MikhailGorbachev #Restructuring #aftertheUSSR #Russia #USA #Ukraine #Emigration

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