Almost 40 years ago, the “Suicide Squad” of real life saved Europe from a catastrophe

On April 26, 1986, in Pripyat, Ukraine, Chernobyl’s nuclear center reactor exploded, giving rise to one of the most catastrophic events ever. However, three heroes sacrificed on a suicidal mission to avoid tragedy-and, against all expectations, survived.

The famous 1986 disaster at Chernobyl Central, after the explosion of one of its reactors during a security test, was the largest nuclear catastrophe always.

The accident caused massive release of radioactive material For the atmosphere, giving rise to a radioactive cloud that spread throughout Europe, especially affecting Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and other neighboring countries – and whose consequences for decades.

What almost no one knows is that the catastrophe could have reached much greater proportions – were it not for the sacrifice of the “Chernobyl divers”, a group of heroes, true “Suicide Squad” of real life, that avoided the (even) worse.

Ten days after the main explosion, the nuclear central engineers were aware of a potentially more dangerous that could be about to happen.

The explosion was so powerful that it damaged the reactor cooling system, which led to the creation of a huge “pool” under the nucleus.

If this water came into contact with the core, it would cause a reaction to which scientists name about what could have reached a force of 5 megatonasmore than 300 times the power of the atomic bomb it destroyed in 1945.

And this It would not even be the biggest problembecause, then, all the vapor released would join the radioactive cloud that already hovered over the place-multiplying its size and spreading it throughout Europe.

Second Vassili Nesterenkoat the Soviet physical and director of the Institute of Nuclear Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, if this explosion had happened, the

Superheroes

There was only A way to avoid disaster: manually shut down the water supply of the cooling system, running the valve that was in the chamber below the core, recalls the.

There was only one “small” problemthe camera was completely flooded with extremely radioactive water I share the explosion.

On the 26th, ten days after the explosion, all members of the First Fire Squad that was sent to the site They had lost their livesbecause they have been working too close to the nucleus and exposed to high levels of radiation.

It was then that Alexei Ananenko, Valeri’s dinner e Boris Baranovthree of the Ukrainian central workers, had the courage to volunteer for a mission, which was suicidal. They knew someone had to act and that it was their duty as workers.

Of the three, Alexei was almost a “volunteer by force”: he was the only person in the shift that knew the exact location where the valve was located. His presence was essential.

The three volunteers were warned of the mission risk and asked if they would be willing to do so, as their most likely destination It would be death, due to the high levels of radiation. Even having the best anti-radioactive equipment as possible, The scenario was not a promising to our heroes.

Entered the reactor, to face an almost certain death, with the only consolation of A promise: if they didn’t come back alivethe Soviet government would take care of their families as a form of gratitude.

Finding a valve in that corridor full of pipes and other valves, it was like Find a needle in a haystackalthough the firefighters got Remove any of the contaminated waterwhich was at the height of the knees.

The pressure of time did not help either, every second that passed thereit was a second less possibilities to go out alive, hope drained by the fingers at the speed of light.

In 2021, in an interview with, Alexei admits that it was an authentic miracle have been able to find the valve Within the scarce time they had, many of the pipes stretched the way. After completing the mission, when leaving the House, they were immediately transported to decontamination rooms.

Segundo o History of Yesterday, Alexei, Valeri and Boris became heroesnot only for avoiding a new explosion in Chernobyl, but for saving all of Europe.

What happened to our saviors?

After the episode, many newspapers reported that the three heroes had been able to be successful, but would have been retained inside the chamber; Others claimed that they would have died a few hours after the mission. The truth is that the three had long and healthy lives.

Boris Baranov died in 2005 due to a heart attack. It was not possible to find out if Radiation had something to do with his deathbut it is unlikely, since it had been enough years since the mission.

I alexei Ananeko and Valeri Bezpalov, who for years continued the nuclear industry, are still alive. In 2019, they were decorated by the President Volodymyr Zelenskyyas “Heroes of Ukraine” as recognition for the service provided in 1986.

Contrary to what some experts speculated, our protagonists led a normal lifeWithout any apparent damage of radiation contact – which is known, no new members have grown.

Some say they only survived because the constant exposure to radiation in their daily lives will have given them some “immunity,” which helped them to leave alive that day.

And, just like DC Comics’ “Suicide Squad” characters, despite the very high risk they were at a scenario that was not “pink”, they managed to come out alive from Chernobyl after saving Europe from a catastrophe.

Thank you Alexei, Valeri and Boris.