The Moldovan participants in the Chernobyl cleanup efforts today marked the 28th anniversary of the disaster, by laying wreaths at the statue of Stefan cel Mare and holding a rally at the Chernobyl Memorial in Chisinau, IPN reports.
Tudor Capatina, the head of the Chernobyl Union of Moldova, said in his speech that remembering the day is important for those who risked their lives “liquidating the consequences”. “The people who gathered here today did a heroic job. Thousands of lives have been saved thanks to them”. Capatina said that the Union will write to the Government to create a commission and raise the pensions of those who helped at Chernobyl, or face protests if no decision is adopted in a week or two.
Vasile Ionas, a Chernobyl cleanup participant from Chisinau, said this should be a day of mourning for those who consciously went to their deaths by going to the disaster site. “That was true heroism. This day should make us all think, so as to prevent at all costs such things from repeating themselves”, said the man, who added that he is determined to join the protests if the government fails to raise their benefits. He complained that their pensions are barely enough to cover their medical bills, this is why the government should at least allow them to buy medicines with a 50% discount.
Another participant, Nicolae Daniil from Taraclia, said that ever since he returned from Chernobyl he has become a habitual hospital patient. He underwent heart surgery recently and while his treatment costs go up, the state welfare remains meager.
Roughly 3,000 Moldovans participated in the clean-up efforts after on 26 April 1986 a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, in the former fellow Soviet republic Ukraine. 2,317 of them live today. They receive a monthly benefit of about 2,000 lei ($150).
