His name is Valery Semenov. Last February 24, this chief engineer of Chernobyl went as every morning on his place of work. On the spot, he sees the Russian tanks advancing towards the nuclear power plant. As he explains to BFM TV, Valery Semenov was taken hostage for 45 days on the Chernobyl site. During all this time, he slept only two or three hours a night, a real ordeal. “These first 25 days, I slept only 3 hours per night in a sitting position. I had to be everywhere at the same time to ensure the security of the plant,” he recalls.
Fortunately, the engineer was able to count on the support of his colleagues to hold on during this terrible ordeal. “I don’t really know how I held on, my colleagues helped me a lot, I drew on my reserves. My 30 years at the plant have prepared me for what I have just experienced. I knew perfectly all the people under my command, they are almost my family. It helped me,” he continues.
“I stood guard”
On March 9, an electrical failure affected the plant, causing a nuclear risk. Valery Semenov then negotiates with his hostage takers to connect the plant to the Belarusian network. “None of the invaders managed to get into the special command room. Today, I don’t even know how it’s possible, they could have carried out an act of sabotage, but we stopped them. I don’t really like to put myself forward but it was me every time who got in their way to dissuade them from entering, I stood guard”.
Despite the rotations proposed by the Russians to change the personnel of the plant, Valery Semenov decides to stay on site. He will finally leave it at the end of March, when he is released by the Ukrainian forces. “I don’t even have words to describe what I felt, I felt psychologically boosted,” he concludes, moved.