Moscow. .- Whenever fewer likvidátor, those heroes who served as human shield for the radiation to stifle the fire shirt sleeves and cover the gaps of the fourth reactor of Chernobyl nuclear power plant 25 years ago. "The liquidators are heroes, like war veterans. Many of them were subjected for days to high doses of radiation, which cost the disability and ultimately death," he told Efe Viacheslav Grishin, President Russia's Chernobyl Union (UCR).
Unlike operators of the recently damaged Japanese central Fukushima, the "likvidátor (liquidators) Soviet teams did not have flame retardants, masks, gloves or special boots to protect against radiation. "Liquidators are the tens of thousands of people who worked in the exclusion zone of 30 km around the Chernobyl plant to save the world from a major catastrophe," he said.
Grishin alluded to engineers, technicians atomic sector companies, military, police, civilians and academics who were mobilized by the Soviet Union to halt the spread of radiation and its effects on stroke clear in many cases, shovel and rake . "Some built the coffin, others take off adjacent buildings, cleaning other peoples of the area and some received as its mission the destruction of all wildlife, from rats to rabbits, which may transmit radiation," he said.
One of them was Victor Birkun, a Ukrainian firefighter who worked at the plant between 1976 and 1987, and died two months ago, at 61 years of age, after open heart surgery. "In Ukraine, at that time of year and quite hot, so we went to put out the fire in his shirt sleeves. Had neither helmets nor fireproof suits," he told Efe Birkun five years ago.
Birkun and 27 other firefighters were resting in a hut at 150 meters from the reactor number four of the Ukrainian nuclear plant when the serial explosions occurred on that fateful April 26, 1986. Despite his heroism, Birkun had no life at all easy and only managed to have the state recognize their right to a disability pension for less than three years.
"My husband not only beat the fire at Chernobyl, but also managed to beat the system. Demonstrated that the state protects the liquidators. The pity is that shortly after winning the trial, his heart stopped," he told Efe ago his wife a few days. Grishin said that the Russian state "does recognize the liquidators of Chernobyl as a legal collective, as with veterans of the war against Nazi Germany or the war in Afghanistan.
"However, put many conditions. If you lost the document that certifies that he worked as liquidator, to submit a medical record that demonstrates and two witnesses who must be former liquidators. It is very complicated," he said. Recently, the Russian state has approved a program to improve housing for the liquidators, but decreased significantly the financial support that allowed them to meet their essential medical treatment and spa breaks.
"The level of mortality among liquidators is very high and the state is very slow. Most just get to enjoy the support," said Grishin. Moreover, the UCR accused the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to minimize the number of deaths caused by radiation released by Chernobyl. "The IAEA maintains that around a thousand people died due to the direct impact of radiation in his body.
Medical tests have established that more than seven thousand people died due to leakage of Chernobyl" he said. Grishin recalled that until the fall of the USSR in 1991 no one took care of keeping track of those killed by Chernobyl, five years in which "many liquidators suffered heart attacks, strokes or committed suicide." In addition, more than 62,000 estimated at the Chernobyl liquidators those condemned to disability, whether by amputation or respiratory stops.
"Societies Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian recognize his achievement. But the state does not at its true value. The medals are not given to live a decent life. It is a great injustice, "he said Grishin. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus at least five million people were affected by radiation. 
Unlike operators of the recently damaged Japanese central Fukushima, the "likvidátor (liquidators) Soviet teams did not have flame retardants, masks, gloves or special boots to protect against radiation. "Liquidators are the tens of thousands of people who worked in the exclusion zone of 30 km around the Chernobyl plant to save the world from a major catastrophe," he said.
Grishin alluded to engineers, technicians atomic sector companies, military, police, civilians and academics who were mobilized by the Soviet Union to halt the spread of radiation and its effects on stroke clear in many cases, shovel and rake . "Some built the coffin, others take off adjacent buildings, cleaning other peoples of the area and some received as its mission the destruction of all wildlife, from rats to rabbits, which may transmit radiation," he said.
One of them was Victor Birkun, a Ukrainian firefighter who worked at the plant between 1976 and 1987, and died two months ago, at 61 years of age, after open heart surgery. "In Ukraine, at that time of year and quite hot, so we went to put out the fire in his shirt sleeves. Had neither helmets nor fireproof suits," he told Efe Birkun five years ago.
Birkun and 27 other firefighters were resting in a hut at 150 meters from the reactor number four of the Ukrainian nuclear plant when the serial explosions occurred on that fateful April 26, 1986. Despite his heroism, Birkun had no life at all easy and only managed to have the state recognize their right to a disability pension for less than three years.
"My husband not only beat the fire at Chernobyl, but also managed to beat the system. Demonstrated that the state protects the liquidators. The pity is that shortly after winning the trial, his heart stopped," he told Efe ago his wife a few days. Grishin said that the Russian state "does recognize the liquidators of Chernobyl as a legal collective, as with veterans of the war against Nazi Germany or the war in Afghanistan.
"However, put many conditions. If you lost the document that certifies that he worked as liquidator, to submit a medical record that demonstrates and two witnesses who must be former liquidators. It is very complicated," he said. Recently, the Russian state has approved a program to improve housing for the liquidators, but decreased significantly the financial support that allowed them to meet their essential medical treatment and spa breaks.
"The level of mortality among liquidators is very high and the state is very slow. Most just get to enjoy the support," said Grishin. Moreover, the UCR accused the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to minimize the number of deaths caused by radiation released by Chernobyl. "The IAEA maintains that around a thousand people died due to the direct impact of radiation in his body.
Medical tests have established that more than seven thousand people died due to leakage of Chernobyl" he said. Grishin recalled that until the fall of the USSR in 1991 no one took care of keeping track of those killed by Chernobyl, five years in which "many liquidators suffered heart attacks, strokes or committed suicide." In addition, more than 62,000 estimated at the Chernobyl liquidators those condemned to disability, whether by amputation or respiratory stops.
"Societies Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian recognize his achievement. But the state does not at its true value. The medals are not given to live a decent life. It is a great injustice, "he said Grishin. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus at least five million people were affected by radiation.
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