The prevailing winds at the time of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion in April 1986 meant the independent republic of Belarus received 70 per cent of the radioactive fallout. Of the estimated seven million people said to have been living in the contaminated areas - in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia - three million were children. And the village of Vesnova in Belarus, near the Ukraine border, was and remains one of the hardest hit areas. The result: an entire population of children with brain and organ abnormalities after severe and long-term radiation exposure. And to this day, 20 years after the tragic blast, children continue to be born with congenital deformities, brain damage and a host of other mental and physical disabilities. To make matters worse, the majority are abandoned by their parents - the economic situation makes it nearly impossible for families to care for their sons and daughters - and they are placed in foster homes scattered around the country.

The children of Belarus have become a symbol for the world's worst nuclear disaster.



Related Stories:
Beauty In The Apocalypse, by Antonin Kratochvil
The Children of Belarus, by Antonin Kratochvil
Chernobyl Stalkers, by Donald Weber
Bastard Eden, Our Chernobyl, by Donald Weber

www.antoninkratochvil.com