I just rewatched the five episodes of Chernobyl.

[Towlie]

The constant stream of outrageous lies from the government of the Soviet Union, and its persecution of the scientist Valery Legasov for revealing the truth, has a haunting similarity to current events here in the USA.

[hlthe2b]

1. Yeah. I watched it when it first came out. More should view it.

Not that we learn lessons much any more. sigh...

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

5. when did it come out? Recently or long time ago?

[hlthe2b]

6. 2019-HBO

There is a podcast that accompanies it too. Just search apple podcasts or other source.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

7. ok. thx

[Tadams01KC]

2. Agree

I had the same thoughts watching it.
“ It’s no more radiation exposure than a chest x-ray”. Yeah sure it is!

[ProfessorGAC]

8. That Actually Could Have Been Accurate....

....if they had said a chest x-ray every millisecond!

[Thunderbeast]

3. I re-watched it last week too

The depth of lies and fear of disclosing the depth of the disaster to Soviet leadership was telling and predictive. Russia still holds the fiction that only 31 people died from the explosion.

I hold respect for those brave souls who knowingly sacrificed their health and lives to save literally millions of European citizens on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

Before he died, Gorbachev posited that the Chernobyl disaster disaster was the tipping point that ended the Soviet Union four years later.

I recommend it too.

[Wicked Blue]

4. My relatives told me the ruzzians went knocking on doors in Estonia

Last edited Thu Jan 22, 2026, 05:45 PM - Edit history (1)

and dragging men away to force them to work on the cleanup. One of my cousins escaped by hiding in the woods.

Apparently the ruzzians preferred not to sacrifice themselves so they conscripted people from the soviet republics to do the worst of the dirty work.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. While Probably True...

...the helicopter crews dumping water on the damaged core were Russian military.
I think they basically didn't care who they sacrificed

[Wicked Blue]

10. Those guys were up in the helicopters

I'm talking about people working on the ground, getting directly exposed to the radiation. I'm sure there were ruzzians there as well, possibly prisoners and others thought to be worth sacrificing.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. A Lot Of Those Helicopter Crews Died

They were flying through clouds of radioactive steam!
That was a super dangerous assignment.