
Address by Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman on the occasion of the Day of Honoring the Participants of Elimination of the Chernobyl Accident Consequences
Fellow citizens!
The explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in April of 1986 has
become a disaster having global impact, that had fell on the Ukrainian nation
then, and the repercussions of which are still keenly felt. The aftermath of
the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant would have been even greater
if not a heroic and selfless feat of liquidators who were fighting to mitigate
the consequences of the explosion from its first hours.
At that time, when nobody could have imagined all the risks and scales of
the disaster, and the communist regime was trying to conceal that from the
public, it were them who were the first to start fighting the evil at the expense
of their lives and health. This was a momentous feat of people who came face-to-face
with the technogenic catastrophe, and who
courageously withstood and localized the spread of this calamity.
The extent of gratitude to the liquidators cannot be measured, as through their
efforts, their health, their lives they brought salvation to the Ukrainian
citizens and all of the mankind. Their heroic deed will remain embedded in
Ukrainian people’s memories forever.
I wish the liquidators of the aftereffects of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster sound health and longevity, peaceful skies, well-being and heartfelt gratitude for the risk taking!