‘She went through hell’: widow of Chornobyl engineer killed in Russian drone strike on Kyiv | Ukraine
The widow of the first Soviet engineer to die in the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was killed in Russia’s massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, on Friday.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Nataliia Khodemchuk as a victim of “a new tragedy caused by the Kremlin,” nearly forty years after her husband Valerii was killed in Chernobyl’s nuclear reactor number four.
Valerii was the only factory worker whose body was never found. As a circulation pump operator, he was in the main north hall of the reactor when an explosion occurred in the unit in April 1986. Their bodies are still under the rubble.
After the explosion, Nataliia was evacuated from her home in the town of Pripyat and given an apartment on the left bank of Kiev. On Friday, a drone crashed into the side of the building known as the Chornobyl house on Honoré de Balzac street in the Troyeshchyna district.
The woman, who was 45 percent burned, later died in the hospital. Six more people were killed in the attack early Friday. The apartment block in Kiev is home to other former Chernobyl workers, including Oleksiy Ananenko, who prevented a second explosion by diving into a tank below the reactor.
State agency of Ukraine’s exclusion zone management in question Khodemchuk was to take part in a photo shoot to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the disaster. “We lost a woman who went through the hell of Chernobyl, lost her husband, raised children and endured tragedies that could break anyone. But not her,” the statement said.
“Nataliia lived with dignity, love, and a quiet strength that inspired all who knew her personally or through her story. She was joyful, supportive of others, and radiant. Her voice now joins those of all the innocent Ukrainians killed by Russian terrorism.”
The statement said, “The pain of this loss is unbearable. Russia proves its true face every time: A country of terror that recognizes neither humanity nor compassion.”
The couple met in the 1970s in Pripyat’s canteen, where Nataliia worked as a saleswoman. They had two children: a son named Oleh and a daughter named Larysa. In the hours after the explosion in 1986, she visited Chernobyl’s medical unit and morgue in search of her missing husband.
She was instructed to pack her few belongings and evacuate Pripyat with her children and other immediate family. Ukrainian journalist Tamara Khrushch said, “They left for three days with only small bags. It seemed like this went on forever.” He wrote a tribute on Facebook.
Khrushch, who interviewed Chernobyl survivors for a TV documentary series, said Russia’s drone strike on Friday left many homeless for the second time. “I was surprised. Nataliia had serious burns. She was already in poor health due to chronic diseases due to the accident in 1986,” he said.
In recent months, the Kremlin has dramatically increased air strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Most cities and towns, including Kiev and the presidential palace, experience frequent power outages. Zelenskyy called on allies to help strengthen air defense systems.
Writing on social media, he said the Russians last week “launched nearly 1,000 attack drones, nearly 980 guided aerial bombs and 36 missiles of various types”. He said that strikes were carried out overnight in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, and Odesa and Dnipro regions.
“Multi-component air defense is required every night – air defense systems, combat aviation, mobile fire groups, interceptor drones. We are actively working with our partners to strengthen Ukraine’s protection,” he wrote.
Additional reporting by Artem Mazhulin
