Republic
26.04.2006
While visiting the town of Bragin, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko laid a basket of flowers to the monument to Vasiliy Ignatenko. Today, on the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl catastrophe the head of state is visiting Bragin district.
On April 26, 1986 in the very first minutes after the explosion at the fourth power unit of Chernobyl nuclear power plant, internal service senior sergeant Vasiliy Ignatenko and his squad arrived to extinguish fire on the roof of the third power unit, which was still operating. His squad accomplished the task, the fire was extinguished in an extremely complicated situation at the expense of human lives, as the squad received a lethal radiation dose.
Internal service senior sergeant Vasiliy Ignatenko was awarded an Order of Red Combat Banner posthumously for his heroism and courage in the execution of his duty.
Bragin district is one of the most affected ones. Out of 188 settlements 54 ones were re-settled and 8 were buried.
A memorial, which consists of arcs and shields with engraved names of the villages, was erected in the town centre in 1992 in memory of all the re-settled and no longer existing settlements of the district.