Moldovan leaders commemorate Chernobyl victims

Moldovan political leaders and diplomats from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia on Tuesday, April 26, laid flowers to the memorial of the victims of the Chernobyl disaster in Chisinau to mark the 25th anniversary of the nuclear disaster, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The catastrophe in Chernobyl split the course of humanity into two parts: before and after. Radioactive particles from Chernobyl still represent a threat to the health of those who participated in the cleanup operation and will remain to be a hazard for 24390 more years, which is the period required for the Plutonium-239 that was released into the atmosphere to decay”, Tudor Capatina, the head of the Moldovan Chernobyl Association, said in his speech before the memorial. Speaker and concurrently acting President Marian Lupu remarked that this year the commemoration event was particularly symbolical because it fell on the day after the Easter holidays. “It is a duty of the public authorities not to forget the sacrifice of the people involved in the cleanup efforts. The doors of Parliament and the Presidential Office will always be opened for collaboration with these people”, declared Marian Lupu. Prime Minister Vlad Filat expressed his recognition for the heroic act of everyone who participated in the disaster cleanup operation and said that the it was the state's duty to find possibilities to support these people. Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca stated for his part that payments of 500 lei will be offered to 900 people involved in cleanup efforts at Chernobyl. On 26 April 1986, two explosions at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant degenerated into a disaster which was felt around the globe. The most affected areas included Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Russia, Moldova and Romania. About 3,500 Moldovan citizens were deployed to participate in the cleanup operations and nearly 1,000 died shortly afterward.