On the 38th anniversary of Chornobyl tragedy, KDA prays for its victims

A helicopter near the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which the authorities sent to help experts assess the damage. Photo: gk-press.if.ua

A helicopter near the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which the authorities sent to help experts assess the damage. Photo: gk-press.if.ua

On April 26, 2024, the 38th anniversary of the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in the academic temple of Kyiv Theological Schools prayed for the victims of this tragedy, the KDAIS website reports.

Special requiem prayers for the liquidators, victims and all those who died as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in 1986 were offered during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

The service was celebrated by Hieromonk German (Kovach), a teacher of the KDA, in the church in honor of St. John Damascene at the Intercession Monastery in Holosiiv.

Teachers, students and pupils of Kyiv Theological Schools, parishioners of the Academic Church and pilgrims of the monastery prayed at the service.

Liturgical hymns were sung by the academic choir of students of Kyiv Theological Schools under the direction of the regent Hierodeacon Innokenty (Babia).

On April 26, 1986, an accident occurred at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in the town of Pripyat in the Kyiv region. During the night, two explosions occurred at the fourth power unit of the nuclear power plant. A fire started, a huge amount of radioactive substances was released into the atmosphere. The force of the explosion was equal to 500 bombs that were once dropped on Hiroshima. Hundreds of firefighters and emergency workers were rushed to eliminate the catastrophe. The fire was completely extinguished only on May 10. In 1986, about 250 thousand people were evacuated from the exclusion zone. The exact number of victims of the Chornobyl accident is still unknown. According to one of the data, up to 100 thousand people. About 8.4 million residents of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were exposed to radiation. Uninhabitable remained 150 thousand square kilometers around the Chщrnobyl nuclear power plant.

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