Under the instructions of the Minister of Civil Aviation of the USSR, B.P. Bugayev and the decision of the republican government, the author of this article was instructed to lead the work on eliminating the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster (April 26, 1986 at 1:24 pm) by civil aviation. This tragedy was due to the shutdown of the cooling system while the reactor was running during a series of experiments. Still today there is a question: what kind of reactor is this which allows a person to turn off the cooling system while it’s running? And after all, the Soviet scientists persuaded the idea to the public through media that a peaceful atom is the verge of genuine security, reliability and environmental purity. The explosion of the reactor at the fourth block of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disproves all this.

After the meeting at the Zhulyany airport (Kiev) of the Governmental Commission headed by the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR B.E. Shcherbina, 26.04.1986 at 18.00 I flew by helicopter to Chernobyl. When approaching the nuclear power plant, I watched a terrible picture. On the fourth block in the roof a huge hole appeared with a crimson glow inside the block, from which white smoke emerged. Everything around the fourth block was covered with black soot with an oily reflection. A yellow trail from the yellowed leaves on the trees was visible to the north from the block. Around the block lay pieces of reinforced concrete, there were many different engineering parts. A thought flashed through my mind: "A real atomic CATASTROPHE happened." The media were silent. High ranks feared the panic among the population. And only on the third day on April 28 in the evening program "Time" the announcer read the TASS report about the accident, which was far from accurate. The report on the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant said that two people were killed and a slight increase in the radiation background was noted. In fact, radioactivity has reached more than 10 thousand roentgen per hour both over the reactor and on the ground around it.

The panic began the next day. People besieged cash desks of all types of transport. About one million people left Kiev. Already on April 27, three flights from the airport Borispol were sent to Moscow, 129 people engaged in extinguishing the fire, 59 of who passed away very soon. In the years that followed, the commander of the Borispol JSC Ivan Gavrilovich Smelyansky died, who was responsible for arranging flights with the liquidators of the consequences of the disaster and the decontamination of the aircrafts. The leader of the Kiev JSC (Zhulyany airport) Hero of Socialist Labor Andrei Grigoryevich Nartov, the chief engineer of the department Evgeny Arkadievich Provarov, who led the organisation of flights to Chernobyl and the decontamination of aircrafts and helicopters, also died. A few years ago Ivan Makarov, the commander of the composite flight detachment, who was engaged in organising flights for the decontamination of the 30-kilometer zone and the industrial site of the station itself, was no more. All do not list! The Kingdom of Heaven!

In total, 14 types of aviation works were carried out by aircrafts and helicopters of civil aviation to eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe during the first three months, starting from April 26, 1986. These were water fences with the help of helicopters from reservoirs and the radiation on the ground and in the air, and the prevention of precipitation in the area of ​​the catastrophe by firing from the aircrafts with special rockets of cumulonimbus clouds in order to prevent radionuclides from entering the water bodies together with sediments, as well as connected and transport flights, decontamination of places With the help of An-2 and others.

On the night of April 27-28, the Government Commission decided to evacuate the population living in the exclusion zone. Almost in a few hours on April 28, 50 thousand inhabitants of Pripyat were evacuated. The city was empty, the birds flew away, hungry cats and dogs roamed the streets. This was an eerie sight. Totally, thousands of people were evacuated and placed in other regions of Ukraine, for which whole villages were built as soon as possible. In Kiev itself was placed about 8 thousand people. All evacuated families received cash compensations.

May 15, 1991 the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin signed the Law of the RSFSR "On Social Protection of Citizens exposed to radiation due to the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant", which is still in effect, but with some clarifications. A similar law was also in the USSR. The participants of liquidation of consequences of the catastrophe were given perpetual Certificates permitting to use the privileges stipulated by this Law. For unknown reasons, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia decided in 2003 to change these Certificates and to demand from the participants a bale of evidences to confirm participation in the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster, including the travel certificate to Chernobyl. And this, despite the fact that in section 3 of Art. 13, clause 2 of the said Law, it is written that citizens (including those temporarily or directed) are participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Many liquidators did not have travel documents, as they flew from Kiev to Chernobyl in the morning (130 km), worked all day in the contamination zone, and by evening returned to Kiev, where people and equipment were decontaminated. The officials from the Ministry of Emergency did not want to listen to anything, seized the existing Certificates, and the liquidators were deprived of benefits. A real mess began, which was terminated by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation by accepting the Exchange of Certificates as illegal. And the Law itself is not fully implemented. Especially with regard to free provision of medicines in the first and fourth quarters of the year, with reference to their absence, prosthetics of teeth, exemption from all types of taxes, etc. Here is where to remember the famous saying that the severity of Russian laws is compensated by the possibility of their non-fulfillment . Participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster in Chernobyl are paid 375 rubles once a year by the district social protection departments for increased nutrition. The power is offensive if you recall the statement Vereshchagin in the film "The White Sun of the Desert". Yes, and people remember the Chernobyl victims only once a year on the anniversary of the catastrophe that has taken place.

Chernobyl aviators are sincerely grateful to the head of Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Vasilyevich Neradko for the delivery of colorfully designed "Thank-you letters" to Chernobyl victims in connection with the 30th anniversary of the disaster. The letter, in particular, says: "Accept sincere gratitude and huge gratitude for your courage, heroism and selfless actions shown during the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986».

We are also grateful to the Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation of the USSR, Victor Vasilievich Gorlov from Chernobyl, now the Chairman of the Council of Veterans of the central apparatus of the Moscow City MGA, for daily care and assistance to Chernobyl victims. Thank you for your attention to the Chernobyl victims of Vyacheslav Andreevich Shlykov, the chairman of the Club's "Experience" Council and all others who remember this tragedy, and those who, at the risk of their lives, have saved lives for other people who have fallen into this trouble.