What Happened at Chernobyl: 40 years on - BBC World Service Documentaries

Forty years on from the world’s worst nuclear explosion at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, #BBCWorldService examines what led to one of the most catastrophic man-made environmental disasters in history. Click here to subscribe to our channel ?? https://bbc.in/3VyyriM The events of April 26th, 1986 had far reaching effects - leading to the contamination of large parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and ultimately hastening the collapse of the USSR. Jordan Dunbar travels to Chernobyl forty years later, speaking with people who were there on that fateful day and have never spoken to international media before - including two ‘liquidators’ tasked with the perilous job of cleaning up the aftermath of the nuclear disaster, as they meet and relive the extraordinary events they experienced. In this documentary, Jordan asks what we can learn from the events of that day, and examines why so much of what happened was hidden from the world. 00:00 The world’s worst nuclear accident 01:50 Entering Chernobyl’s toxic landscape 02:25 “An optimistic place”: Life before the disaster 04:27 The last couple to marry in Pripyat 05:48 Safety test on the night of the accident 07:20 “It was like an earthquake” 08:44 “The soldiers had gas masks”: The morning after 10:34 Newlyweds' first dance as Chernobyl becomes radioactive 12:00 "Attention, attention!" Pripyat is evacuated 13:22 Soviet authorities reveal there has been an accident 14:07 First responders are underprepared for scale of the accident 15:46 Hundreds of thousands of ‘liquidators’ brought in to clear radioactive material 20:27 The human cost 21:20 An attempted Soviet cover-up? 22:50 Inside 'haunting' unit four control room as it is today 24:15 Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine: Chernobyl is a battleground again 26:55 “We care about freedom”: An existential battle for Chernobyl workers ? Watch this film in SPANISH here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ewTlFpU0bo&t=5s In RUSSIAN here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J27i9JsRB3o In PORTUGUESE here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxR1pJycyCM ?️ Watch more investigative documentaries from our award-winning BBC Eye investigations team at this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4fa8LK1lptsvoA_spfJhzda ? You may also be interested in watching these documentaries: https://youtu.be/Pxozxj03l18 https://youtu.be/y7ruSvJfn_g https://youtu.be/z4-koO916Gk https://youtu.be/Y5wajKa4iz8 https://youtu.be/pf8arQ03-lc ---------------- This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel. If you like what we do, you can also find us here: Instagram ?? https://www.instagram.com/bbcworldservice Twitter ?? https://twitter.com/bbcworldservice Facebook ?? https://facebook.com/bbcworldservice BBC World Service website ?? https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio Thanks for watching and subscribing! #Documentary #Chernobyl #ChernobylDisaster #Ukraine #Russia #BBCWorldService #WorldService