In the location where we worked, 10 mines were found afterwards.
The defused mines held in the first photo in this post by Viacheslav Dedychev, head of one of the repair sites of NPC Ukrenergo, will not kill anyone anymore. After the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the Kyiv region, those mines were found by sappers when they inspected the overhead line feeding the site of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was where our repair team worked to restore power to the Chornobyl NPP, spent nuclear fuel storages and other special facilities.?
We have already told you?how our repairmen restored the lines cut by shelling at the Chornobyl NPP during the occupation. But it is far from all that we can share with you even now.?
Vitalii Haleta, head of the linear equipment unit of NPC Ukrenergo’s Construction and Repair Centre in the Northern region, together with the repair team crossed the frontline three times to locate damages on high-voltage lines in the Chornobyl Zone. They had to repair the lines feeding the facilities on the Chornobyl site.?
Read below Vitalii Haleta’s direct speech:?
“The Northern region is our area of responsibility. When all the lines feeding the Chornobyl NPP were damaged, it was clear that some of us had to go to restore them. I did not persuade anyone, just said that I was going there myself and that I would not take the young ones because they had children to raise. But there were so many volunteers that I had to choose who would go.?
The trip to the repair site was hard: mined roads, fallen trees that in no way could be touched because there might be tripwires on them. In the territory that was then held by invaders, their representative controlled us all the way. When the invaders’ checkpoint was 400 meters away, we stopped and I got out of the car and went to them. When they said they were waiting for us, I signalled the drivers to drive up. Everyone got out of the car and the car search began.?
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Suddenly, a signal flare took off next to us. The invaders jumped behind the cars and started shooting in that direction. Of course, we hid behind the cars too. Then they got information on the radio that a dog was running by and triggered the flare. Fortunately, neither people nor cars were harmed.?
In the place of damage, under the towers, there were reclamation channels with water and we could not lower the wire to the ground, so we repaired it in the air. The road took a long time and it was not possible to finish the work on the same day. We were told to spend the night at the rashist checkpoint. It was not only unsettling but also very cold: the driver, who was sleeping by the window, had his hair frozen to the glass.?
In the morning, we finished the repair and on our way home met an enemy infantry-fighting vehicle. We stopped and went to negotiate. One of them went to the pit by the side of the road, and the other one, as it seemed to me, racked the gun. I thought that we would be shot and buried in that pit... Fortunately, it ended well.?
Back during the repair, we saw that in another place, 6 km away from us, the forest was burning and explosions were heard. When we returned, we found out that there was new damage and the line did not start working. And we had to go back to the occupied territory.?
At the crossing of the river, near the destroyed bridge, they had a checkpoint. There the commanding officer asked me why we were going to Chornobyl. I told him that without power there could be a radiation leak at the Chornobyl NPP. In response, I heard that he would be happy if it happened and the radiation went to Ukraine. I had to explain that russia would not be spared that disaster either. He also asked why the territory is so empty and why there are so many buried machines and equipment. I explained that this is the Exclusion Zone, that these are disposal sites for equipment contaminated by radiation, and it is extremely dangerous to be here...”?