As Russia warns of an ever-increasing risk of nuclear war and relations with the US frozen for months, communities very close to Soviet-era nuclear test sites in northern Kazakhstan have a message for world leaders, first for Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.
Residents of these areas remember that hundreds of nuclear tests were held in the area between 1949-1989, very close to the city of Semey, once known as Semipalatinsk, very close to the Kazakh-Russian border. The radiation had a devastating impact on the environment and the health of the inhabitants, which still continues to take lives even at a young age.
Nuclear weapons and radiation experts believe that the effects of those super-powered nuclear tests are still felt today, even though more than 30 years have passed since the last test. But tensions since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have brought back fears of hostile rhetoric and the use of Soviet weapons, unused since the fall of the Soviet Union. In early November, Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrew Russia from the 1996 global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests. Moscow has said it will not go ahead with testing them unless America does so first.
When the equipment was placed underground, until 1963, when the tests were carried out underground, the authorities ordered the residents, the locals, to leave their houses, schools, buildings because they were afraid of their collapse, due to strong vibrations. Even today, after more than 3 decades, the authorities find it impossible to speak with accurate figures and data of the impact of those tests in Kazakhstan. But scientists say that radioactive materials underground, the absorption of radioactive particles in the air and the consumption of contaminated food, including livestock, have contributed over the years, and even today, to the increased risk of cancerous diseases.
The villages of Kaynar and Saryzhal, are the first, the most exposed to the radiation of those tests.
Between the years 49-89, more than 450 nuclear tests were carried out there, more than 100 of them above the surface, atmospheric tests and the rest underground. After 1963, they went underground after the agreement came into force banning their use in the atmosphere, space or underwater because they were considered too harmful. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moscow no longer had access to the Kazakh site. Nuclear experts say that even if someone decides to carry out nuclear tests, they will have to be underground, as they pose a risk to the environment and human health.
" I remember, I was 5 years old, very small. They told us that some training would be held there. At one point, we were out of the house and out of the dust, we couldn't even see Mount Delegen. But of course we were small, we were curious and we went out secretly. At first, yellow powder rose, then black. The adults took us by force and took us away. "
" They warn everyone and say: get out of the houses, schools, buildings, stay outside. In many cases, houses collapsed in seconds. We all hung out. The houses were shaking a lot. Lampshades, windows, everything was broken. "
" I stayed like this and watched. I was the leader of a platoon that transported motor vehicles for the army. 3 minutes before the tests, we started the evacuation of security personnel and guards. Whoever could not get out in time, was gone forever. We sat and watched. The tests were happening. Then the dust rose for minutes, hours. If the wind came in our direction, we closed in where we could. "
" We have been working for years with the personnel service. We calculated radiation meters before each test. As soon as I came to the company, I checked the radiation meters. When it reached a certain point, we quit our jobs and left. After us, the next shift came. That was the way we worked, measuring meters every minute. "
" We were wearing normal gas masks. Could it protect us? Only from gas. But from nuclear radiation, absolutely not. No mask would do for him. Nothing could protect us from that radiation. "
KAIRBEK KUSAINOV – WAR VETERAN, FORMER MILITARY
" We served with a construction engineer in the battalion. We prepared the detonators. We prepared the shells with our own hands. At the time we didn't know how harmful they were. Even at that time we told others that they were not harmful. Because it was forbidden to speak otherwise. When we were 20 years old, we were obedient. We knew how to lie. They told us we should get married, we did. We then realized that at the age of 30, the problems started. Our colleagues died in their 30s. "
" On the days of the explosions, they let us out. The ground trembled under our feet. They kept telling us that nothing would be found for us. Later we realized how much we were going to suffer. Every letter we wrote, even to our family members, was checked. If you wrote something you shouldn't, the letter wouldn't start. "
" We, the soldiers, worked from morning to night. We fed 300 men in a canteen. And in total there were 10 canteens. Imagine how many soldiers there were. It was not about civilians, only soldiers. Much later we realized that tests were being carried out in that place, which would turn out to be fatal. Many of our own died. Very few managed to live to the age of 70. "
SAYIT ABISH – WAR VETERAN
" First you heard a loud noise. Then everything started shaking and moving and noise. It lasted a few minutes. Right after that an army helicopter came. I don't know where it came from, but it must have been close. The army had their offices here in our village. Experts came by helicopter as well. They checked the test results. They had their own instruments. "
NURSLYAM ESMAGAMBETOV - ENGINEER
" I had an operation. I take a lot of medicine. I do not live in normal health conditions. "
" My father died when he was 58 years old. My brothers and only sister are also dead. All at a young age. they were almost children and we did not understand what they had. No one dared to oppose the government. "
DMITRY VESELOV
" My health problems are related to the respiratory system. I also have bad teeth. I have suffered from arthritis almost all my life. Almost all of us have been deprived of a normal life. "
" This is my sister, Saule. She was born in 1961. She made it to the third grade in school. She is a living victim of nuclear tests, sick since childhood. We went to different doctors. She never leaves the house, in fact she hasn't been out since she was 8 years old. "
" You can't do anything alone. I take care of him. Even to the doctor, I take him with my eyes closed. "
" During the time when the tests were carried out here, the nearest bomb fell in the neighboring village, almost 18 km away. From that time until today, we have all suffered the consequences. We lived here when the tests were done, we still live here. Where else would we go? We learned here. We survived the difficulties. When there were explosions here, we went to school. Imagine how many people were left dead by those explosions. The leukemia quickly spread within a few years. Imagine how many 25-year-old women have died as a result of diseases. How many 18 or 20 year old girls have committed suicide. All these are the consequences of those explosions. "
" Today I think that the consequences have not yet disappeared. When Russia chose this place to test its atomic bomb, it did so to show its strength. And I fear that today, Putin is seeking to do the same. "
" We are the people who saw with our own eyes the consequences of the tests of nuclear activity. If those tests are repeated, the population of the whole world will remain a victim. I hope people learn from past mistakes. If necessary, we will tell our story everywhere. If they happen again, humanity will disappear. "
YBYRBAY SERIKBAY
" In cooperation with the state authorities, we managed to come here, to the place where the explosions took place, in the crater. As you know, more than 50 years have passed. The radiation level has since normalized. Experts have told me this. As you can check for yourself, there are no signs of radiation in the water. "
MAMAY BUTABAYEV
" Today, we are still not aware of any official report on what happened here at that time. We asked for one from Nuclear Physics, from the National Nuclear Center, they told us that they will keep the situation under control. As far as I know, the local farmers, some of whom I know personally, do the monitoring themselves. And they haven't detected any more radiation. Maybe something has remained somewhere deep, but we don't see the signs today. " (A2 Televizion)
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