REPORTAGE – The Ukrainians have entered their sixth month of a war which they know will be long. We criss-crossed the country for nearly 2,000 kilometers to better understand how this people, who spoke Russian for a long time, broke away forever from their powerful neighbour.
DAY 1: Chernobyl, remnant of the world before
The mere evocation of the name of this city recalls the catastrophe of that day in April 1986 when, for the first time, the world heard of reactor no. 4, of this explosion and of this radioactive cloud which would not cross borders. Since then, this once prosperous city has been emptied of its inhabitants and a monumental dome built on the site contains the pollution.
Read alsoHow Chernobyl employees stood up to the Russians: the account of the special envoy of the Figaro
Here, in these lands, still in places excessively contaminated, Putin’s troops who took control of the plant on February 24 dug trenches and set up their position for weeks. In their very modest house, Victor and Galina never left. Aged 85 and 80 respectively, these two lovebirds love each other like the first day and live surrounded by a swarm of kittens that they take great care of. They saw, from the first days of the war, Russian soldiers invade Chernobyl, considered an important strategic site. Again, Viktor and…
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