“Russian soldiers searched, robbed us and took away equipment,” — the head of the fire and rescue unit on the occupation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Chernobyl Disaster, the head of the 2nd State Fire and Rescue Department, Colonel of the Civil Protection Service Mikhail Garbuza told in an interview with the tele-marathon “United News” about the work of emergency workers in the conditions of occupation.
“We were directly during the occupation and served in the city of Chernobyl. Russian soldiers repeatedly came to us, searched, robbed, took away equipment. Thank God, after our glorious warriors knocked them out of Kyiv region, all firefighters who served in the city of Chernobyl, guarded the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, extinguished fires under bullets, everyone returned home — alive and well. At present, all of them are in service,” says Mykhailo Garbuza.
The man says that due to hostilities and occupation, a large part of the Chernobyl zone remains mined. He recalls a time when he and his team went to eliminate a fire, but on the way a car with rescuers blew up on one of the enemy mines.
“In the morning it was a normal day, the communication panel of the part received a message about the fire of the forest litter in the area of the village of Dyatitky. Technicians, rescuers were sent. We started to eliminate the fire, but due to the gust of wind, the area of the fire increased and we had to drive the equipment to the forest. And while driving through one of the forest areas, our car, ZIL-131 hit a mine and blew up. There were 6 people in the car, the personnel were injured, but fortunately everyone is alive and currently serving,” recalls Mykhailo Harbuza.
For more information about the work of rescuers in the Chernobyl zone, see the link.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
