Chernobyl’s Prisoners

 

While the tension is building at the nuclear power plant of Zaporizhzhya, the workers of the other famous power plant at Chernobyl try to go back to work. Their workstation was overrun by the Russians in the first days of the war.

 

Mykhailo Makhyna (56) — Engineer in repair and maintenance of equipment. Was held hostage for a month when the Russians invaded The Chernobyl power plant. We filmed with him at his hometown and at work.

Oleksiy Shelestii (43) - Chief of Mykhailo Makhyna, manager of the electricians department who was kept hostage for a month.

 

 

SCRIPT:

 

Quote Mykhailo:00:06:11 00:11:04 This is where we work...

00:11:07 00:17:00 To be exact, this is where I worked...

00:17:03 - 00:21:10 ...and spent my spare time.

 

Q Reporter 00:21:13 00:23:21  So, where did you sleep?

 

Q Mykhailo 00:23:24 00:26:18 At my desk, in the chair.

 

Reporter  00:26:21 00:29:08 For a month?

- Yes.

 

Q Mykhailo 00:31:07 00:34:11

There was no other option.

 

00 35 06 - 00 41 05 The daily life of the employees of the Chernobyl power plant has changed dramatically since the beginning of the war.

 

Q Mykhailo 00 41 06 - 00 42 24 Friend

 

00 44 13 - 00 58 08 We’re traveling North of Kyiv, to Slavutych.(graphic Kyiv to Slavutch) The town that was built for the workers of the powerplant after the nuclear disaster in 1986. We meet electrician Mykhailo Makhyna and his chief in the central square of the town.

 

 

Q  Oleksiy 00:59:10 00:01:07:17  It is a small place. It is cosy and nice.

 

Q Mykhailo 01:05:03  01:11:21 This is a nice place to live.

It is peaceful and calm.

 

01 11 16 - 01 19 16 Although both men have worked at the plant for years they are too young to remember the day the Chernobyl nuclear disaster shook the world.

 

(Title: Dutch News,  27 April 1986)

Q NEWS 01:20:01 - :01:24:23  Chernobyl is the worst nuclear disaster in history.

01:25:01 - 01 28:03 That is the only certainty we have.

 

01 28 03 - 01 41 20 Now, 36 years later the village Pripyat, where the workers of the plant used to live has become a green wilderness. The ill fated reactor is covered with a concrete dome, but the radiation is still there.  

 

 

Q Mykhailo:01:42:03  01:48:07 We are now approaching the monument

for the heroes of Chernobyl.

01:48:10 -  01 54 23 For those who were there in 1986.

 

01 55 10 - 02 00 10 Mykhailo shows us the monument where his deceased colleagues are honored

 

 

Q M :02:01 23 - :02:07:03  Is there an electrician as well?

- Yes, this is Lopatuk.

Reporter 02:10:00 - 02:13:23  What happened to him?

- He died...

Q M 02 14 00 - 02 17 08 ...as a result of radioactive radiation.

 

02 16 03 - 02 22 20 Hundreds of Ukrainian technicians guard the plant nowadays so there won't be any dangerous situations.

 

Q M:  02 22 19   02: 29 02  Before the war, we had 12 hour shifts.

02:29 05  02:32:09 We worked during the day...

02:32:12 - 02:37 15 ...and at night we went home.

02:32:18 - 02:41 16  After that, we would have

two days off.

 

02 41 24 - 02 49 13 Just before the Russians invade the country Mykhailo and his boss Oleksiy Shelestii are ready to start their shift.

 

Q  Oleksiy  02 50 09 - 02 57 17  At the time the Russians were active at the border, but they were exercising.

Q Mykhailo  02 57 20 - 03 05 17  We hoped 'the little man with his big ambitions' would be sensible...

03 05 20 - 03 12 03  ...and would not start a war.

 

03 12 03 - 03 16 06 The men have mixed feelings, they are worried   

 

Q  Oleksiy 03 20 03 - 03 23 19 Safety at the plant was under threat.

03 23 22 - 03 29 04 This is a nuclear power plant.

Anything could have happened.

03 29 07 - 03 33 00  International rules say

Ukraine is responsible.

03 33 03- 03 38 19 We have a responsibility towards

the entire world.

03 38 22 -03 45 03  We have to keep all the nuclear waste

inside. It can't be allowed to leak out.

 

03 45 03 - 03 50 09 On February 24th the first Russians appear at the horizon 

 

Q  Oleksiy 03 50 15 - 03 55 22 It was intense. I felt the adrenaline.

03 56 00 - 04 01 07 And fear. I did not understand

what was happening.

04 01 10 - 04 07 24 The most important thing was

that they were negotiating with the boss.

04 08 02 - 04 13 01 They said: We are the Russian army...

 

04 13 04 - 04 18 01 ...and we are taking over the plant

for your safety.

04 18 04 - 04 21 24 But for us they were just occupiers.

-        

Soundbite 04 21 24 air alarm !!! 

 

Q  Oleksiy 04 24 17 - 04 27 03 The air raid siren.

04 27 06 - 04 32 04 Officially, we should now go

to the bomb shelter...

 

Q Mykhailo 04 32 07 -04 35 00 ...but usually we don't do anything.

 

04 41 08 - 04 52 24 The next morning Mykhailo drives with us to Chernobyl. Before the war this was a 40 minutes train ride crossing BelaRus. But this country is now an ally of Russia so the road is closed.

 

Q M 04 54 07 - 04 58 13 Nowadays, it's complicated.

04 58 16 - 05 02 17 Previously, the trip only took 40 minutes...

05 02 20 - 05 07 18 ..the commute from my home to the plant.

05 07 21 - 05 14 18 Nowadays, we practically

live at our workplace...

 

05 14 22 - 05 25 18 (graphic route Slavutch - Kyiv- Chernobyl) Now the route goes through Kyiv, a 6 hours drive. Shifts are extended to a week so there's not much private time left. Especially if your wife is also working there. 

 

Q M 05 25 18 - 05 29 14 She works as a guard.

05 29 17 - 05 33 23  So, we see each other two or three days

every month.

 

05 33 16 - 05 42 01 Rules to get in are strict, you can't touch anything or put stuff on the ground. Every visitor gets a personal radiation meter.

 

Q Man 05 42 08 - 05 47 04 This measures the accumulation of dose

for your visit.

 

05 47 22 - 05 53 03 Like martians we walk through the ‘golden alley’ to the master control room.  

 

Soundbite: phone

Q Man 05 55 16 - 05 58 04 We have to ask for permission.

 

05 58 04 - 06 05 00 This is where the plant is supervised, it doesn't work anymore but is still emitting heat.  

 

Soundbite; phone rings 2:

Q man 06 12 19 - 06 19 06 V332-TR, phase A, the air leak has been fixed.

 

06 23 01 - 06 30 00 On the early morning of the Februari 24th  Mykhailo was at work at his office

 

(Projection)

Q M 06 32 03 - 06 38 19 From the window I saw tanks...

06 38 22 - 06 44 13 ...and a number

of armoured personnel carriers.

06 44 16 - 06  51 24 On top of the tanks and the APCs...

06 52 05 - 06 56 23 They went around the corner...

06 57 01 -07 03 17 ...and stopped directly

in front of the admin building.

07 03 20 - 07 12 15 They aimed their weapons

and dropped men around the perimeter.

 

07 12 13 - 07 17 06 His boss asks him to guide two of the Russian soldiers  

 

Q M 07 17 06 - 07 21 22 They wanted barracks to stay in...

07 22 00 - 07 25 20 ...so, we went over to look.

07 25 23 - 07 30 23 They asked how many

entrances and exits there were...

07 31 01 - 07 36 00 ...for their own safety.

07  36 03 - 07 40 23 At first, they were polite...

07 41 01-  07 47 07 - ...saying: please and sorry.

 

Soundbite: music

 

Q M 07 49 12 - 07 56 07 But that was only in the first few days.

07 56 10 - 08 02 05 : They aimed their guns at us. We were psychologically pressuered

08 03 08 - 08 10 01   knew right away that it was very dangerous.

 

Q M 08 10 06 - 08 14 13 They did not carry those weapons

for show.

08 14 16 - 08 19 02 I can't even call them humans anymore.

08 19 05 - 08 23 18 They are monsters.

 

Q M 08 24 03 - 08 28 24 

Hello. What happened?

08 29  02 - 08 34 15  Hold on, what happened?

 

08 34 00 - 08 49 24 During the occupation,communication between the workers in the plant and their families in Slavutych was almost impossible. Mobile phone traffic is blocked by the Russians. Mykhailo, as an electrician, is responsible for all communication through old fashioned landlines.  

 

Q M 08 50 08 - 08 54 23 So, you say nobody at the department

is answering?

 

Q M 08 55 01 - 08 59 20

When the mobile network was down...

08 59 23 - 09 06 03 ...there was only contact

between the city and the plant.

09 06 03-7 - 09 11 10 Family members tried to find each other.

09 11 13 - 09 15 21 They were crying on the phone.

They were emotional.

 

Soundbite: ding verplaatsen (short)

 

Q M 09 16 15 - 09 21 08 I could maintain the contact

between the two places.

09 21 11 - 09 27 00 I could connect people...

09 27 03 - 09 34 16 ...when somebody was trying to find

a family member.

09 34 20 - 09 37 09 I supported everyone.

09 37 12 - 09 43 10 Essentially, I was more of a psychologist

than an operator.

 

09 43 10 - 09 54 14 When -after a month- the Russians are forced to retreat by the Ukrainian army, they leave behind a big mess. For now the rubbish is cleared up, and Mykhailo and his colleagues are back to work.

 

 

Q M 09 55 02 - 10 00 12

I foresee a great future for Ukraine.

10 00 15 - 10 04 14

We will win

and then we will be happy again.

10 04 17 - 10 10 01

And the Russian fascists

will melt away like snow before the sun.

 

Endtime:10 10 01 ( +1)

 

 

Program: EenVandaag

Network: Avro/Tros

Camera: ROel van Hees

Editing: Thijs Nusmeijer

Reporter: Simone Timmer 0031 6 22 49 52 32