Republic
25.04.2006
The Belarusian interior ministry is carrying out activities dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe.
The interior ministry initiated a gathering of the interior officers who partook in the Chernobyl clean-up activities, head of the press-service of the information and public relations department of the interior ministry Vitaliy Grinkevich said. In particular, the veterans were taken to the Narovlya, Khoiniki and Bragin regions were they had served. The guests visited a museum of history and local lore which told a story of the efforts to mitigate the Chernobyl impact. In Khoiniki the veterans laid a wreath at the memorial tablet commemorating the interior officers who worked in the area from May 3 to October 6 1986. In the village of Babchin the clean-up veterans got familiar with an exposition of dosimeters, outfit and vehicles used in 1986-1987 during the relief efforts.
The official part of the events finished in Bragin at the monument to Mr. Ignatenko who died trying to put out the fire at Reactor 4. After that deputy interior minister Viktor Zhiburtovich opened a requiem-rally where chairman of the Gomel oblast executive committee, His Holiness Aristarkh, Archbishop of Gomel and Zhlobin extended gratitude to the former clean-up workers for their courage and heroism displayed back then. Every veteran was awarded souvenirs and honorary diplomas.