Ukraine October 2007

The retired Boomers have chosen to spend some time in Eastern Europe. After spending 5 months in Britain and 1 month combined in Morocco and Cyprus in late 2006 and early 2007 we want to travel from a base in Eastern Europe.

What better place than Kiev, this is the capital city of a relatively new country. The new Ukraine was officially independent August 22, 1991. One of several former republics in the former Soviet Union, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and other territories formed separate countries as the Soviet Union collapsed.
Ukraine has existed for centuries but it was frequently ruled by foreign powers. From Genghis Khan to the Russians they have had very few years of independence. So this new beginning is an opportunity to build a new independent Ukraine on democratic principles.

Ukraine is the largest country in Europe, about 10% larger in area than France. The population has declined from about 50 million to 48 million since independence. Apparently not all Ukrainians had the patience to stay and see a new country built. They left for a new country. Some of their fellow countrymen would agree that they made the better choice as Ukraine has struggled since 1991. There were economic troubles in the 1990’s. The reduction of state owned enterprises combined with a 50% reduction of the armed forces created a huge level of unemployment. A high level of inflation soon followed until a new currency was introduced in 1994.
The country has a large agricultural industry and was the breadbasket of the Soviet Union. The farms were large collectives under the Soviet system but are now being privatized.
The Ukraine was the home of numerous Soviet nuclear missile sites; it has been nuclear free since 1994. It was the home base of the Soviet Navy with the warm water bases in the Black Sea. It now has an agreement to lease naval bases to Russia. It was also the area where many of the Soviet missiles and airplanes were made. Some of these plants still operate.
Chernobyl is approximately 100 km north of Kiev and was the site of the largest accident at a nuclear plant in the world on April 26,1986. We visited the Chernobyl Museum in Kiev with the assistance of an English guide. The museum visit left us with several messages. One that it is a memorial to the firefighters and government workers who lost their lives trying to contain the fire at the nuclear plant. At the same time it is also a hall of remembrance to the numerous villages that are no longer inhabitable within the 30km exclusion zone. In addition it tells of the mentality of the Soviet Union at the time. Instead of issuing warnings to neighboring countries, the authorities tried to prevent the rest of the world from knowing the extent of the disaster at Chernobyl. Belarus is only a few kilometers north of Chernobyl. In 1986 it was also a republic within the Soviet Union but they were not warned immediately that the fallout from the nuclear fire was blowing across their territory. The museum reports that about 14,000 people are known to have died prematurely from the effects of radiation that caused cancer and thyroid related diseases. Many people in Belarus are not included in the statistics.
Although there are many theories about the cause of the fire and explosion, they do know that the plant managers were testing the maximum capacity of the plant and the plant overheated. Due to the design of the Chernobyl type of nuclear plant, an increase of temperature from a fire caused the nuclear reactor to increase in activity until it went out of control. The nuclear plant generated heat and made steam that operated turbines that generated electrical power for millions of users. When the nuclear activity increased the steam pressure also increased and the plant exploded. The nuclear reaction still continued and reached a meltdown level where the high temperatures melted the steel and metal structures of the whole plant. The explosion blew away the protective coverings and radiation escaped into the air. When the fire finally went out soldiers were employed to clean up the rubble from the fire, they wore protective clothing and were limited to 2 minutes shoveling rubble. If I understood the guide correctly these soldiers were offered retirement from the army in return for these 2 minutes of work. The radiation from the 2 minutes would cause many of these men health problems for the rest of their loves. Some scientists predict it will take 500 years for the radiation levels to be safe for humans in Chernobyl. Many children born in the area suffer from thyroid problems and cancer. The stated that five generations will suffer health problems caused by radiation from Chernobyl. They gave credit to Cuba for treating over 16,000 children free of charge in Cuba very soon after the explosion.
The city of Kiev depends on the Metro system; over 1.5 million riders use the subway system daily. The system is neither impressive nor modern but it moves people around this city very easily at what has been reported as the lowest cost in the world; 10 cents per ride. Retail stores and open-air markets are clustered near Metro stations to take advantage of the volume of traffic passing by.
The retail stores range from very modern to street vendors selling a few items from a tiny space on the pavement. The underground mall beneath the Independence Square would resemble any downtown city mall in North America with similar products and prices. But a few feet away there can be a street vendor selling vegetables and fruit at very low prices. Bread is sold from small kiosks staff by one person who serves customers through a very small window. The bread is displayed on shelves placed against the windows with a nametag and the price. Customers queue up (Ukrainians are very good a forming lineups for buses and shops) and point to the item they want in the window. The clerk will fill the request from racks of bread inside the kiosk and add up the sale on a small hand held calculator. No receipt is issued